Charles Julius Guiteau Who Assassinated United States President James A. Garfield Has Passed Away:
Charles Guiteau was born in Freeport, Illinois, as the fourth of six children to Jane August Howe and Luther Wilson Guiteau, whose family traced its roots to French Huguenots. His mother died in 1848, and two years later the family moved to Ulao, Wisconsin, near what is now Grafton. They remained there until 1855 before relocating back to Freeport. Guiteau’s father was known for being physically abusive toward him, which contributed to long-term strain in their relationship.
In 1860, Guiteau inherited $1,000 from his grandfather, an amount equal to roughly $35,000 in 2024. With these funds, he intended to enroll at the University of Michigan. However, he failed the entrance exams due to inadequate academic preparation. To address this, he enrolled at Ann Arbor High School to study French and algebra. During this time, his father wrote to him about the Oneida Community, a utopian religious group in New York with which he was closely associated. Influenced by these letters, Guiteau left school and joined the Oneida Community in June 1860.
Guiteau admired Oneida’s founder, John Humphrey Noyes, describing his trust in Noyes as absolute. However, despite the group’s open attitudes toward relationships, Guiteau was socially rejected and mockingly nicknamed “Charles Gitout.” He left Oneida twice. After his first departure, he attempted to start a newspaper called The Daily Theocrat in Hoboken, New Jersey, but it failed. When he returned and later left again, he tried to sue Noyes for payment, leading his father to publicly distance himself and label him unstable.
