Edward A. Wickham was the son of James Wickham and his first wife Mary Lacy. He married Mary C. Farrell of Mason City, Iowa. Like other members of his family, he was very successful in the contracting business in the Council Bluffs, Iowa area, where he lived his entire life. At the time of his death he was 60 years old, his wife had died about 2 months earlier from injuries sustained in a car accident. Their only child, son Bernard J., was only 15 years old.
Related Items:
Pictures of his home at 829 2nd Ave, Council Bluffs.
Biography of his father James and uncles Patrick and Owen P. Wickham.
Newspaper articles concerning the car accident that killed his wife and a lawsuit he was involved in around that time.
Picture of his and wife Mary's and his mother's tombstones.
Obituary for his son, Bernard J.
Obituaries for his brother, Bernard P. and sister Nell.
Obituaries for his grandparents, Patrick and Cecelia (Pryor) Wickham.
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Iowa City Press-Citizen (Iowa City, Iowa)
Tuesday, 10 March 1925, p. 1
POLICE HUNT
FOR WICKHAM
Man, Brooding Over Fatal Accident, Disappears in Council Bluffs
(By Associated Press)
COUNCIL BLUFFS Ia. Mar. 10--Members of the family and police are absolutely without the slightest clue to the whereabouts of E. A. Wickham, missing citizen of Council Bluffs who disappeared from his home late yesterday.
During the night several reports of the missing man having been seen were run down but in every case failed to be of any value.
Seen In Omaha
Floyd Happy, an Omaha policeman off duty reports having seen Mr. Wickham at Twelfth and Douglas streets in Omaha about 1:30 last night and says that he advised Mr. Wickham to get on a street car and go home. The officer did not know at the time that an alarm had been sent out for the man.
Members of the Wickham family said today Mr. Wickham had often expressed a desire to go to Mexico, and having a general mania for travel it is believed the missing man would leave town on a train. He had little money, it is said, but could easily obtain any sum from acquaintances who might not happen to know of the alarm over his absence.
Erratic Since Accident
Since the death of his wife and a nurse in a grade crossing accident here several months ago, Mr. Wickham is said to have developed erratic tendencies, although members of the family said today he often went to the office alone. He has been in poor health from a nervous collapse for more than a year.
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The Davenport Democrat and Leader (Davenport, Iowa)
Thursday evening, 12 March 1925, p. 1 & 4
SUICIDE OF
WEALTHY
IOWA MAN
E. A. Wickham, Contractor of Council Bluffs, Hangs Himself.
MISSING FOR TWO DAYS
Suffered Breakdown Year Ago; Wife Killed in Auto Wreck.
By The Associated Press.
Council Bluffs, March 12.--The body of E. A. Wickham, 58, millionaire contractor and financier of Council Bluffs, for two days the object of an almost nation-wide search, was found late last night hanging by a rope fastened to the ceiling of an unused basement room in his home here, by Leo Wickham, a brother, and Police Captain J C Schaffer.
Apparently Mr. Wickham had been dead since soon after his return from a walk Monday afternoon, the last time he was seen alive, but his disappearance was not discovered until he failed to answer a call to dinner that evening. Immediately the alarm was sent out and a search, in which officers of Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois were asked to participate, was instituted.
The palatial home of the wealthy contractor was thoroughly searched but no attempt was made to gain entrance to the room where the body was found and which was locked, until last night.
At various times during the hunt, Mr. Wickham was reported to have been seen in diverse cities of Iowa and Nebraska; the tips run down, but no trace of the man was found.
Suffered Breakdown Year Ago.
Nearly a year ago, Mr. Wickham suffered a nervous breakdown and had since required the constant attention of a nurse. Last Christmas eve, this nurse with members of the Wickham family, riding in the family car, figured in an automo-
(Continued on Page Four.)
SUICIDE OF IOWA MILLIONAIRE AT COUNCIL BLUFFS
(Continued from Page One.)
-bile crash that resulted in the death of Mrs. Wickham and the nurse, and serious injuries to the contractor. The son Bernard, 16, was also injured but not seriously.
Brooded Over Death of Wife.
Mr. Wickham had recently returned from the hospital where he had been since the accident and it is thought that brooding over the loss of his wife coupled with his own ill-health caused him to take his life. Wickham, during his life-time, was one of the most powerful figures in the commercial, financial and political life of the community, dominating for many years city and county affairs. When the U. S. entered the World war, he secured contracts for the government to build army camps, and erected a ballon school at Fort Omaha, an aviation school in Louisiana and the Fort Dodge cantonment, which resulted in the filing of a suit for $217,000 by his associates, including W. D. Jamieson of Shenandoah, former Democratic national treasurer, alleged to have been due them from the profits resulting from the war contracts. This, however, was settled out of court in 1924, after being delayed for more than a year by legal process.
Mr. Wickham had numerous holdings in Council Bluffs banks, was president of the Citizens Gas and Electric company, a director of the Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway and Bridge company and president of the National Construction company of Omaha.
Surviving him besides his son, Bernard, are three brothers, Bernard, John and Leo, all of Council Bluffs, and seven sisters, including Mrs. Edward Murphy of Minneapolis.
Funeral arrangements have not been announced.
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The Helena Daily Independent (Helena, Montana)
Thursday, 12 March 1925, p. 1
DISCOVER MISSING
MILLIONAIRE, DEAD
Hangs Self in Cellar of Home
By Associated Press.
Council Bluffs, Ia., March 11. � E. A. Wickham, millionaire contractor and builder of cantonments during the war, for whom almost nationwide search has been conducted since he mysteriously dropped from sight Monday afternoon, late tonight was found dead, apparently a suicide in a little unused room in the basement of his home.
Death, it is believed, occurred soon after he returned from a walk Monday afternoon, the last time he was seen alive. He stepped onto a box, tied a rope about his neck and hanged himself.
Had Passed Up Room
After Wickham disappeared on Monday, the house was searched, but as the door to the death room was locked, it was not thought possible the missing man could be in there.
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Iowa City Press-Citizen (Iowa City, Iowa)
Thursday, 12 March 1925, p. 1
FIND BODY
OF WICKHAM
Nation Wide Search Ends When Body Is Found In Basement of Home
COUNCIL BLUFFS Ia, Mar. 12--The body of E. A. Wickham, 58, millionaire contractor and financier of Council Bluffs, for two days the object of a nation wide search, was found late last night, hanging by a rope fastened to the ceiling of an unused basement room in his home here, by Leo Wickham, a brother, and Police Captain J. C. Schaffer.
Mr. Wickham recently returned from a hospital where he had been since an automobile accident in which his wife was killed and it is thought that brooding over the loss of his wife coupled with his own ill-health, caused him to take his life.
Wickham, during his lifetime, was one of the most powerful figures in the commercial, financial and political life of the community, dominating for many years city and county affairs. When the United States entered the world war, he secured contracts from the government to build army camps.
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Iowa City Press-Citizen (Iowa City, Iowa)
Friday, 13 March 1925, p. 1
500 TELEGRAMS RECEIVED AT WICKHAM HOME
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Ia., Mar. 13--More than 500 telegrams of condolence have been received at the late home of E. A. Wickham, capitalist contractor, whose lifeless body was found hanging in the basement of the home early yesterday. Among those expressing sympathy to the son, now left without parents, and to the brothers and sisters of the decesased, were financiers and political leaders in Washington, New York and Chicago. The banks of the city will be closed 2 hours Saturday, the day of the funeral.
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