The Shocking Murder of Jodie Ingram Lauterbach, a Child of Job

Lately, I've been researching the descendants of Henry Davis and more specifically, his daughter Martha J. Davis. Martha married Joseph Alexander Ingram from across the river in Anson County and they migrated west to Texas, settling first in Rusk and later, in Kenedy in Karnes County.

In researching genealogy, you never know what you are going to find. Some family stories contain interesting tales of adventure, travel or triumph. Others contain tragedy. The story of Josephine "Jodie" Ingram Lauderbach was one that ended with a shocking and tragic finale.

The article below begins this tangled web, from the Sunday, August 21, 1966 edition of The Dallas Morning News Section A Page 5.



Josephine Lauderbach was murdered by James Hugh Lucas, a librarian with the University of Houston, in Texas. He was identified as a distant cousin. I wanted to know who he was, how he was connected to her, and I did not have far to look. He wasn't a cousin and he wasn't distant.

Martha J Davis Ingram was the granddaughter of Job Davis, via his oldest son Henry and second wife, Martha Palmer. She married Joseph Alexander Ingram in 1867 and migrated to Texas shortly afterwards. Martha and Joe had 6 children, 3 sons and 3 daughters. The oldest daughter was Nannie Stephens Ingram, born in 1867, who married Howell Blanton and the other two were Josephine E. Ingram, born in 1880, who married Fred Lauterbach and Wincie T. Ingram, born in 1885, who married Thomas Benton Greenwood.

Josephine, the next to the youngest child, was known as Josie. She was born in November in 1880, in Kenedy, Karnes County, Texas.

Early Post Card from Kenedy, Texas

By 1900, the family would relocate to the town to the community of Henderson in Rusk County, Texas.
Her mother had died and Joseph Ingram had returned to Charlotte, North Carolina to marry a young North Carolinian, Mary Katherine McCormick, known as Katie.

ame:	Jodie Ingram
Age:	19
Birth Date:	Nov 1880
Birthplace:	Texas
Home in 1900:	Henderson, Rusk, Texas
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Daughter
Marital Status:	Single
Father's Name:	Joseph Ingram
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Name:	Kate Ingram
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Occupation:	View on Image
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Joseph Ingram 55 Kate Ingram 36 Van Ingram 25 Jodie Ingram 19 Wincie Ingram 15

Jodie would marry after school to a young, first generation American whose family haled from Germany, Frederick Augustus Lauterbach. Fred was from Galveston and had worked as a bookkeeper for a firm called Tuller and Fith.

They were married in Cherokee County in a lovely June 6 wedding in 1905.  Fred was 25 and Jodie was 24.

 Three sons would follow in rapid succession:
Joseph Ingram Lauterbach in 1906, named for his maternal grandfather, Frederick A Lauterbach, Jr. in 1908, named for his father, of course, and Richard Forman Lauterbach, likely named for his paternal grandfather whose name was Frederick Richard Lauterbach, in 1909.

The family would swing back and forth between Texas and California. By 1920, the family had returned to Cherokee County, Texas and Fred had decided to try his hand at farming, as his profession is listed as a farmer.

Fred A Lauterbach [Fred C Lauterbach]
Age:	45
Birth Year:	abt 1875
Birthplace:	Texas
Home in 1920:	Justice Precinct 3, Cherokee, Texas
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Marital Status:	Married
Spouse's Name:	Jodie Lauterbach
Father's Birthplace:	Germany
Mother's Birthplace:	Germany
Home Owned:	Own
Able to Read:	Yes
Able to Write:	Yes
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Fred A Lauterbach 45 Jodie Lauterbach 38 Joe Lauterbach 13 Fred Lauterbach 11 Richard Lauterbach 10

By 1927, the family had moved to San Antonio. The City Directory has them listed at 222 Alta Drive in San Antonio. All the sons are still at the same address. Fred Jr. was working as a clerk at Greenwood Pharmacy, and Joe was working as a stockman at McCrory Grocery. Richard was listed, but without a profession. As Jodie's younger sister had married a Greenwood, perhaps the Pharmacy was a family business and Fred Jr. was working for his Uncle, or his Uncle's family.

Just two years later in 1929, Fred Sr. is working in the Circulation Department at Express Publishing, sons Fred Jr. and Richard are living with them at a new home, 522 Cleveland Court. Son Joe is not. In fact, Joe disappears from the records....until his death.

The 1930 census finds the family now living in Bexar, Texas.

Fred A Lauterbach [Fred A Lanterbach]
Gender:	Male
Birth Year:	abt 1877
Birthplace:	Texas
Race:	White
Home in 1930:	Alamo Heights, Bexar, Texas View Map
Marital Status:	Married
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Spouse's Name:	Josephine E Lauterbach
Father's Birthplace:	Germany
Mother's Birthplace:	Germany
Occupation: Education: Military service: Rent/home value: Age at first marriage: Parents' birthplace:	View Image
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Fred A Lauterbach 53 Josephine E Lauterbach 48 Fred A Lauterbach 22 Richard F Lauterbach 20

Fred Sr. is a 'News Carrier' for the 'Daily Paper'. None of the rest of the family is employed, although the boys are all now in their early 20's.

The 1931 San Antonio City Directory repeats the same information as before, as does the census. Fred is a carrier for the newspaper. The family is still living at 522 Cleveland, and no one but Fred is working.

Current view of 522 Cleveland Court, San Antonio, Texas.

The current house at 522 Cleveland Court was built in 2002. No doubt the home the Lauterbach's lived in was long gone and the lot available.

Sometime after this, the family moved to Riverside County, California.


Fred and Jodie were avid fishermen. This print from the San Diego Evening Tribune shows Jodie in 1928, before they had returned to Texas in 1930.

Name:	Josephine Lauterbach
Age:	59
Estimated Birth Year:	abt 1881
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Birthplace:	Texas
Marital Status:	Married
Relation to Head of House:	Wife
Home in 1940:	Beaumont, Riverside, California View Map
Street:	Magnolia Avenue
House Number:	890
Inferred Residence in 1935:	San Antonio
Residence in 1935:	San Antonio
Resident on farm in 1935:	No
Sheet Number:	14B
Father's Birthplace:	Texas
Mother's Birthplace:	Texas
Woman Marriages:	No
Woman Age at First Marriage:	23
Number of Children Ever Born:	2
Attended School or College:	No
Highest Grade Completed:	College, 4th year
Weeks Worked in 1939:	0
Income:	0
Income Other Sources:	No
Native Language:	English
Veteran:	No
Social Security Number:	No
Usual Occupation:	Housewife
Usual Industry:	Home
Usual Class of Worker:	Unpaid family worker
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Fred H Lauterbach 65 Josephine Lauterbach 59

The 1940 census shows Fred and Jodie alone, and gives quite a bit of information about her. It tells that she completed 4 years of college, while on Fred's side, it says that he only finished the 8th grade and only worked 26 weeks that year as a machine operator. They were renting the house in Riverside.




Fred and Jodie were not the only ones in California, by 1940, Richard had married and was living in Los Angeles County.

Richard Lauterbach
Age:	29
Estimated Birth Year:	abt 1911
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Birthplace:	California
Marital Status:	Married
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Home in 1940:	San Antonio, Los Angeles, California View Map
Street:	Liberty
House Number:	3723
Farm:	No
Inferred Residence in 1935:	San Antonio, Los Angeles, California
Residence in 1935:	Same Place
Resident on farm in 1935:	No
Sheet Number:	19A
Number of Household in Order of Visitation:	463
Occupation:	Chemical Engineer
House Owned or Rented:	Rented
Value of Home or Monthly Rental if Rented:	40
Attended School or College:	No
Highest Grade Completed:	College, 4th year
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census:	40
Class of Worker:	Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939:	52
Income:	2400
Income Other Sources:	No
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Richard Lauterbach 29 Dorothy Lauterbach 26

Fred Jr., however, remained in Texas. He had married Myrtle Eloise Stokely and was a Geographer. Both of these sons had went to college for 4 years. Fred Sr. must have delivered a great number of newspapers.

Name:	Fred Lauterbach
Age:	31
Estimated Birth Year:	abt 1909
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Birthplace:	Texas
Marital Status:	Married
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Home in 1940:	Kenedy, Karnes, Texas View Map
Street:	Block 9
Farm:	No
Inferred Residence in 1935:	Brownfield, Texas
Residence in 1935:	Brownfield, Texas
Resident on farm in 1935:	Yes
Sheet Number:	3A
Number of Household in Order of Visitation:	60
Occupation:	Georgrapher
House Owned or Rented:	Rented
Value of Home or Monthly Rental if Rented:	20
Attended School or College:	No
Highest Grade Completed:	College, 4th year
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census:	40
Class of Worker:	Wage or salary worker in Government work
Weeks Worked in 1939:	52
Income:	2400
Income Other Sources:	No
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Fred Lauterbach 31 Myrtle E Lauterbach 26 Fred Augert Lauterbach 3

The 1953 City Directory of Houston, Texas has the family living on Cason St. Fred Jr. and Fred III, his son, a student, are both living with Fred and Jodie. Joseph Ingram Lauterbach, had evidently followed his parents to Riverside County, California, but did not follow them back. He is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Beaumont, Riverside County.


The above is a view of the town of Riverside, in Riverside County, California. The county is located in southern California, along the Santa Ana River, just an hour east of LA. At this point, it is not known what took the Lauterbach family to this area. Perhaps dreams or business, but whatever the dream, it failed them, as they retired back to Texas.




Jodie's husband, Frederick Augustus Lauterbach Sr. died May 3, 1962 in Houston, Harris County, Texas.
He was 87 and had heart disease.

Just a few years later, her second son, Fred, Jr. would die, on April 19, 1964, in Liberty, Texas.

He was 55 and also died of Coronary Heart Disease.

The Dallas Morning News reported in 1966 that a relative of the victim was sought. Did Josie have any relatives at the time? Her husband and two of her sons had passed. She did indeed.

Fred Jr and his wife, Myrtle Eloise Stokely Lauterbach had two sons, Fred III and Arthur Dan Lauterbach. They were 12 years apart in age.

Youngest son, Richard Forman Lauterbach was also still alive and living in California. He traveled a great deal, but settled finally in Penn Valley, California. He married Dorothy West and had 2 children, however, his daughter Linda passed away in 1945 at age 3. Shortly after, he and Dorothy would have a son named Guy. At the time of her death, Dorothy had one son and three grandsons living, and a few great-grandsons in infancy.

The Murder:

The descriptions in the various papers, of the murder, were bizarre and confounding.

The Dallas Morning News reported that they had had the murderer in custody on the night of the murder, prior to its occurance.

Jodie was 88, never a big woman, she was likely frail and helpless. One paper referred to her murder as the Molasses Murder. The Dallas Morning News stated that "Her body was smeared with food stuffs, including oatmeal, syrup, catsup and powdered coffee."  The scene had been set by a very disturbed  person. The home was destroyed, ransacked, papers and other objects thrown about. "Officers said canned foodstuff had been placed on the victim's body in the shape of a cross". Dallas Morning News. 

The murderer was obviously distraught  and  religious, and possibly shamed. He turned photos to face the wall and placed religious objects all over the house.

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) reported that "Famed Attorney" Percy Forman had been hired to defend the murderer. Jodie was described as an "86 year old widow, whose body was left stretched on her kitchen floor in the shape of a cross."  The murderers fingerprints were found "on objects near the molasses-covered body of Josephine Lauterbach. The woman was killed Friday in her three-bedroom home and foodstuffs were also smeared over her in the shape of a cross. Officers said they impounded Lucas' automobile and found a book of religion in it inscribed with such words as 'God is Love', and 'Ever Here and Never Changes'. 

But who was this crazed killer? Why had he chosen the elderly Jodie Lauterbach?

The Dallas paper had called him a distant cousin. The Houston paper would repeat that error.
The article was brief. "Librarian Accused of Killing Kin  Houston, TX. Aug 29 -(UPI)- Police filed murder charges today against a University of Houston librarian, accusing him of strangling a widow. The charge named James Hugh Lucas, 40,  a distant cousin of the victim. Police say they found fingerprints on objects near the body of Josephine Lauterdale, 86. The woman was killed yesterday in her home. Police say they were looking for Lucas, who had been seen near the police station not long before a fingerprint check led to charges. Police impounded the automobile he had been driving."

The Baton Rouge article on the hire of Attorney Forman gave a bit more information on who James Hugh Lucas was. "Forman said Saturday that Mrs. Elise Cravey, 'a woman of very modest means' interrupted his dinner to ask that he represent her son." Forman agreed to take them as clients 'for the time being'.

James Hugh Lucas was a librarian at a University, giving hint that he had a college education. He had been obviously bothering people earlier in the day, as the police had been called, and he was arrested and released on vagrancy charges. The police did not know what they had in their hands. The article goes on to say that " Mrs. Cravey told him (officer) 'I tried to talk to my son Thursday night on the telephone and tried to talk him into going to the Veterans Administration Hospital for treatment'" and later, "quoted Mrs. Cravey as saying her son 'was very mixed up....having severe headaches."



The final depostion of the case revealed that Lucas was a paranoid schizophrenic and also that Jodie's arm had been "pinned to the floor with a knife." It also correctly identified Josie as his great aunt. James Hugh Lucus was sent to the state mental hospital.

So, how was James H. Lucas and/or his mother Mrs. Cravey, related to Josephine Ingram Lauterbach?

Above, I mentioned Josie was one of 3 daughters of Joseph A. Ingram and Martha Davis Ingram. Their oldest daughter was Nannie Stephens Ingram. Nannie had married Howell Blanton in 1886 and raised a large ranching family.

Howell and Nannie had 7 children, Persis, Joseph B. , Hermione Tewmey., Blanche Elise, Teller, Robert and Howell Jr.

Blanche Elise was the very middle child would become "Elise Cravey". First, she would marry James Wesley Lucas.

James W Lucas
Gender:	Male
Birth Year:	abt 1893
Birthplace:	Texas
Race:	White
Home in 1930:	Precinct 7, Nacogdoches, Texas View Map
Marital Status:	Married
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Spouse's Name:	Elsie Lucas
Father's Birthplace:	Texas
Mother's Birthplace:	Texas
Occupation: Education: Military service: Rent/home value: Age at first marriage: Parents' birthplace:	View Image
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age James W Lucas 37 Elsie Lucas 34 Sunshine Lucas 10 James H Lucas 4 [4 6/12]

In the 1930 census, James, who was from Rusk, was working as a lumber contractor and the family owned their home. They had two children, Marion Sunshine, b 1919 and James Hugh, b 1925. From all outside appearances, the family appeared to be very typical and normal for the era. Both children were sent to college and daughter Sunshine appears to have had a very happy life. James William Lucas lived to age 70, dying 3 years prior to the murder.

James Hugh would not marry. His sister Sunshine, however, went forth into the world with a glow.


Sunshine married Fred Wilkerson, Jr. a pipefitter for Gulf Oil Company Project. They had a son, and Sunshine outlived Fred by 24 years. She would remarry at age 81 to Thomas Floyd Hayes. The papers tell of her college achievements, her role as a beauty queen and her place as bride maid in the weddings of her cousins and friends. She died a well-like and well-rounded lady. But what happened to James Hugh?


Elise Lucas Cravey did not share her daughters good fortune. The newspapers described her a being 'of modest means'.

Two years after the death of Mr. Lucas, Blanche married a man named Charlie Cravey. It was a year before the murder. She was 70. Blanche Elise would live to be 95. Charlie Cravey, somewhat younger than she, would outlive her by 4 years and live to be 94.

Records have James Hugh Lucas living at "Quiet Lane" in Houston, Texas in 1987. Either he was still in the Institution or released to live on a fitting street on medication.
He would die the same year as his stepfather, in 1994 and be buried in the Sacul Cemetery in Nacogdoches County, with his mother.

His military record describes him as 66 inches tall and 106 lbs when he enlisted for duty in WWII, lying about his age. A small man, and possibly a delicate one, he was not fit perhaps for the military, and while he physically survived, apparently mentally, he had not.


Descendants of Elise and her Aunt Jodie reside happily in Texas and California today, perhaps unaware of each other and perhaps ignorant of this horrific murder that tied them together as well as their family connections. What tripped in the mind of middle-aged librarian J. Hugh Lucas, to make him want to murder his elderly aunt will always remain a mystery.