The Lost Head of Ernest Gouker

On the morning of Monday, December 9, 1929, a fire devoured a one and a half story log home four miles south of Gettysburg, just off Taneytown Road near Barlow. The inferno raged with such ferocity that by the time neighbors noticed the smoke, all they could do was watch in helpless horror. Their thoughts turned to the family inside-- Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Gouker and two of the six Gouker children who were still living at home. Some were saddened, some were shocked, but others merely sighed. The Goukers were an interesting family, and some said it was only a matter of time before tragedy paid a visit to their country farm.

For generations, the Gouker clan had provided sheriffs, constables and police officers of York, Adams and Cumberland Counties with no shortage of work. Though their crimes were not particularly sensational or egregious, they were frequent enough to earn the family a less-than-sterling reputation-- drunk driving, petty theft, disorderly conduct and the occasional domestic squabble were par for the course. As for 50-year-old Ernest Warren Gouker, a cigarmaker by trade, and his 47-year-old wife, Stella, their marriage had been rocky from the beginning. In 1911, Ernest was arrested for assault and battery on his wife, and, according to neighbors, the couple had frequent quarrels ever since. Just one week before their home burned, their 16-year-old daughter, Grace, was paroled in the custody of her grandfather, David B. Gouker, after she was convicted of stealing from a neighbor. Witnesses recalled that after leaving the courthouse, Ernest and Stella got into a heated argument, which culminated with Stella threatening to kill "the first Gouker who set foot into her home".

The Goukers had only occupied the 100-acre farm, known locally as "the old Luckenbaugh place", for less than a year, renting it from Charles Brandt of Mechanicsburg. Prior to moving to the farm, Ernest had been employed at the Keystone Cabinet Company factory in Littlestown, and was considered a steady, reliable worker. Three of the Gouker children had already moved out, while Grace was living with her grandfather at the time of the fire.

At the Scene

Naturally, when the Gouker home burst into flames on that cold December morning, not many of the neighbors were keen to risk life or limb rushing into the raging inferno. One neighbor, Oliver Sharetts, raced to the burning cabin but, believing the Goukers were away, made no effort to call the fire department. After the structure collapsed and the flames had died down to smoldering cinders, other neighbors came to investigate: John Mehring, David B. Gouker, George Knight and a man named Cook. The men noticed the pungent odor of burning flesh, and they realized that at least one unfortunate member of the family had been consumed by the flames.

It was David Gouker, Ernest's father, who hurried to Gettysburg to notify the state police. The coroner, Dr. Miller, soon arrived, and authorities began to sift through the blackened ruins for the victims. Inside the cellar, authorities located the remains of Ernest Gouker. He had been burned almost beyond recognition. Strangely, Ernest's head was nowhere to be found. At around four o'clock they also found the charred body of Stella Gouker. However, despite hours of sifting through the debris, authorities were unable to find Ernest's head.

This led some to believe that Ernest had shot his wife and set the home on fire before blowing his own head off with a shotgun. Others believed that it was Stella, still angry at her husband over their daughter's larceny arrest, who had blown off Ernest's head before setting the cabin ablaze. The Adams County coroner, Dr. Edgar A. Miller, subscribed to the murder theory, arguing that if the fire had been accidental in origin, at least one of the Goukers should've been able to escape. Unfortunately for Dr. Miller, the victims had been burned so badly that it was impossible to determine if there had been other injuries.

The Inquest

The following day an inquest was held at the scene of the tragedy as the remains of Mr. and Mrs. Gouker rested nearby in the farm's smokehouse. Every now and then a wisp of gray smoke would rise from the still-smoldering ruins as friends and neighbors of the family told the coroner's jury details of the lives of the husband and wife. The coroner's jury consisted of William Maring, Truman Luckenbaugh, Harry Dougherty, Joseph Boyd, George Knight and C.R. Wolf.

The first witness to testify was Beatrice, the 11-year-old daughter, who said that she left for the Willow Grove school with her little brother, Warren, at around 8 o'clock. Beatrice did not recall her parents arguing that morning; when she left for school her mother was in the kitchen doing dishes while her father was preparing to do work around the farm. When she was shown the partially-burned blanket which had been found wrapped around her mother's body in the cellar, Beatrice identified it as the one that had been on the bed occupied by her parents. 

Oliver Sharetts testified about finding the bodies. Stella's torso had been found under what had once been the kitchen. She was found wrapped in a blanket on top of a bedspring, indicating that she had been asleep on the upper floor when the cabin collapsed. Ernest's headless torso was found several feet away, and the position of his body suggested that he may have been on the upper floor as well. Sharetts had been unable to find the man's head, but he also failed to find a weapon, which seemed to discount the murder-suicide theory. However, a coal oil can was found near the husband's remains. 

Also testifying were Mr. and Mrs. John Hartlaub, sister and brother-in-law of Ernest Gouker. They recalled that, the night before the fire, Ernest had told them that he would stop by on Monday to help them with some work, adding, "If I don't get killed before then." Mrs. Hartlaub then asked Ernest if his wife had been giving him trouble again. "Yes," he allegedly replied. "She threatens me all the time."

Ultimately, the coroner's jury, unable to find proof of either murder or suicide, concluded that Ernest and Stella Gouker had "died of burns in a fire of undetermined origin". After the inquest, the remains were turned over to undertaker H.B. Baker of Gettysburg and prepared for burial. Ernest and Stella Gouker were laid to rest at Mount Joy Lutheran Cemetery on the afternoon of Thursday, December 12.

The Gouker grave at Mount Joy Cemetery (from findagrave.com)

The Aftermath

For reasons unknown, after the fire, Grace Gouker was removed from her grandparents' home and wound up at the State Industrial Home for Women in Muncy, Lycoming County. According to the March 30, 1934, edition of the Gettysburg Times, Grace had a three-year-old son, Joseph, who was turned over to the Children's Aid Society in Carlisle by order of Judge McPherson of the juvenile court. This suggests that Grace, who was 16 at the time of her parents' death, may have been pregnant at the time of the fire. If the 1929 tragedy had been a case of murder-suicide, as the coroner had believed, might this have been the cause of Ernest and Stella Gouker's last quarrel?

In 1937, Grace Gouker married William Alter of Mercersburg. Their marriage would last only nine years; William died at a Hagerstown hospital in 1946 at the age of 36. She later married Paul Harnish, of Mercersburg, and they remained together until her death in 1982.

As for David B. Gouker, Ernest's father and Grace's grandfather, there is a curious coincidence in the fact that his home also burned to the ground several years before his son's home suffered the same fate. In April of 1914, a chimney spark set the second floor on fire, and the blaze quickly devoured the rest of the house, destroying the building and all of its contents. And, as if that wasn't an eerie enough coincidence, "the old Luckenbaugh place" fell victim to a second devastating fire in April of 1939 when the barn was destroyed by a "fire of mysterious origin".

The truth behind the mysterious deaths of Ernest and Stella Gouker will probably never be known. While the deadly fire may very well have been accidental in nature, the fact remains that both victims were up and awake prior to the tragedy, as the Gouker children had testified during the inquest, and Ernest and his wife were not on the best of terms at the time. What happened after the Warren and Beatrice left for school on that frosty December morning almost a century ago? How exactly did Ernest Gouker lose his head? And, just as importantly, where did it go? To this date, the missing head has never been found.

 
 

Sources:
Adams County News, April 25, 1914.
Franklin Repository, Dec. 10, 1929.
The Gettysburg Times, Dec. 10, 1929.
Harrisburg Patriot-News, Dec. 10, 1929.
The Gettysburg Times, Dec. 11, 1929.
Adams County Independent, Dec. 12, 1929.
The Gettysburg Times, March 30, 1934.
The gettysburg Times, April 6, 1939.
Harrisburg Patriot-News, Feb. 26, 1946.