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John Schrank
John Flammang Schrank (born Johann Nepomuk Schrank; March 5, 1876 – September 15, 1943) was a German-American tavern owner who attempted to assassinate former President Theodore Roosevelt outside of the Gilpatrick Hotel in Milwaukee on October 14, 1912.
Schrank claimed to have experienced visions of the ghost of assassinated U.S. President William McKinley, telling Schrank that Roosevelt was his murderer, and that Schrank needed to avenge his death, as well as prevent Roosevelt from being elected to a third term as President of the United States. His shot hit Roosevelt in the chest at very close range, but the assassination attempt was not successful; he was immediately arrested, and was later adjudicated insane.
When he was brought before Judge August C. Backus in Milwaukee Municipal Court he quickly pleaded guilty to shooting Roosevelt. Judge Backus did not accept the guilty plea, and appointed a panel to determine if Schrank was mentally fit. The panel decided that Schrank was insane, and in November 1912 he was committed to the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane for 31 years until his death.
Schrank was born in Erding, Kingdom of Bavaria, on March 5, 1876, to carpenters Michael and Katharina Schrank (née Auer). The Herald-Press stated that his birth certificate listed him as John Nepomuk Schrank while a letter from Friedrich Herbig, the mayor of Erding from 1905 to 1929, gave his birth name as Johann Nepomuk Schrank. He had four siblings, two of whom died in infancy. His maternal aunt, Anna Binghammer, suffered from persecutory delusions and was committed to an asylum, Königlich Bayerische Heil- und Pflegeeinrichtung für Nervenkranke, in Gabersee, where she died on November 21, 1904, from encephalomalacia. The Herald-Press also reported that Schrank's paternal grandfather was recorded as having suffered a sudden mental decline and died shortly after.
When Schrank was three, his father Michael died from consumption at the age of 38. His mother Katharina subsequently shuffled between homes, sometimes living with her brother Joseph Auer and his family and sometimes with her elderly parents, until Schrank was nine years old. Joseph acted as a paternal substitute for Schrank in his childhood, showing him how to tend to the vegetable garden and helping with his school work. He was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended public school in Bavaria from the ages of seven to twelve, where he was noted to be an "outstanding student".
In the fall of 1889, Schrank, aged twelve, was informally adopted by his paternal aunt Anne Flamming (née Anna Schrank) and her Luxembourg German husband Dominick Flamming (also known as Dominikus Flamang); they were visiting from the United States, to which they had both immigrated in the 1850s. The adoption agreement was made because the Auer family were already caring for four other children (Schrank's surviving brother and sister, as well as his two cousins, Joseph's daughters) and the middle-aged Flammings had no children of their own. He accompanied them on their return trip from Bremerhaven on the SS Fulda, being listed as their son on the passenger list, and arrived in Manhattan, New York, on October 22, 1889.
During his early years in America, Schrank was known as John Flamming, having anglicized his original first name Johann to the English equivalent and taken on the last name of his foster parents, with whom he lived in a tenement in the Kleindeutschland neighborhood in Lower East Side. He learned English at night classes for the next four years, gaining a keen interest in history and American politics through the newspapers and other literature he read for his courses and began writing poetry in both German and English at 15. Schrank worked at his aunt and uncle's tavern starting at the age of twelve, first as a bus boy and later as a bartender. Schrank became a lapsed Catholic, partially because his foster parents did not attend church, writing "I am a Roman Catholic. I love my religion but I hate my church as long as the Roman parish is not independent from Rome, as long as Catholic priests are prevented from getting married, as long as Rome is still more engaged in politics and accumulation of money contrary to the teachings of the Lord." He became a naturalized citizen on July 23, 1897.
According to family and friends, Schrank developed a great admiration for American ideals and the Founding Fathers, naming historical figures such as George Washington, James Madison, Tadeusz Kościuszko, and Abraham Lincoln as his personal heroes, and kept tags and documents from his immigration process as mementos. He was described as "mild-mannered, reserved but cheerful, with a wry sense of humor" and well-liked by his neighbors, but also quiet, shy, and withdrawn, and, by his own account, never formed friendships.
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John Schrank
John Flammang Schrank (born Johann Nepomuk Schrank; March 5, 1876 – September 15, 1943) was a German-American tavern owner who attempted to assassinate former President Theodore Roosevelt outside of the Gilpatrick Hotel in Milwaukee on October 14, 1912.
Schrank claimed to have experienced visions of the ghost of assassinated U.S. President William McKinley, telling Schrank that Roosevelt was his murderer, and that Schrank needed to avenge his death, as well as prevent Roosevelt from being elected to a third term as President of the United States. His shot hit Roosevelt in the chest at very close range, but the assassination attempt was not successful; he was immediately arrested, and was later adjudicated insane.
When he was brought before Judge August C. Backus in Milwaukee Municipal Court he quickly pleaded guilty to shooting Roosevelt. Judge Backus did not accept the guilty plea, and appointed a panel to determine if Schrank was mentally fit. The panel decided that Schrank was insane, and in November 1912 he was committed to the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane for 31 years until his death.
Schrank was born in Erding, Kingdom of Bavaria, on March 5, 1876, to carpenters Michael and Katharina Schrank (née Auer). The Herald-Press stated that his birth certificate listed him as John Nepomuk Schrank while a letter from Friedrich Herbig, the mayor of Erding from 1905 to 1929, gave his birth name as Johann Nepomuk Schrank. He had four siblings, two of whom died in infancy. His maternal aunt, Anna Binghammer, suffered from persecutory delusions and was committed to an asylum, Königlich Bayerische Heil- und Pflegeeinrichtung für Nervenkranke, in Gabersee, where she died on November 21, 1904, from encephalomalacia. The Herald-Press also reported that Schrank's paternal grandfather was recorded as having suffered a sudden mental decline and died shortly after.
When Schrank was three, his father Michael died from consumption at the age of 38. His mother Katharina subsequently shuffled between homes, sometimes living with her brother Joseph Auer and his family and sometimes with her elderly parents, until Schrank was nine years old. Joseph acted as a paternal substitute for Schrank in his childhood, showing him how to tend to the vegetable garden and helping with his school work. He was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended public school in Bavaria from the ages of seven to twelve, where he was noted to be an "outstanding student".
In the fall of 1889, Schrank, aged twelve, was informally adopted by his paternal aunt Anne Flamming (née Anna Schrank) and her Luxembourg German husband Dominick Flamming (also known as Dominikus Flamang); they were visiting from the United States, to which they had both immigrated in the 1850s. The adoption agreement was made because the Auer family were already caring for four other children (Schrank's surviving brother and sister, as well as his two cousins, Joseph's daughters) and the middle-aged Flammings had no children of their own. He accompanied them on their return trip from Bremerhaven on the SS Fulda, being listed as their son on the passenger list, and arrived in Manhattan, New York, on October 22, 1889.
During his early years in America, Schrank was known as John Flamming, having anglicized his original first name Johann to the English equivalent and taken on the last name of his foster parents, with whom he lived in a tenement in the Kleindeutschland neighborhood in Lower East Side. He learned English at night classes for the next four years, gaining a keen interest in history and American politics through the newspapers and other literature he read for his courses and began writing poetry in both German and English at 15. Schrank worked at his aunt and uncle's tavern starting at the age of twelve, first as a bus boy and later as a bartender. Schrank became a lapsed Catholic, partially because his foster parents did not attend church, writing "I am a Roman Catholic. I love my religion but I hate my church as long as the Roman parish is not independent from Rome, as long as Catholic priests are prevented from getting married, as long as Rome is still more engaged in politics and accumulation of money contrary to the teachings of the Lord." He became a naturalized citizen on July 23, 1897.
According to family and friends, Schrank developed a great admiration for American ideals and the Founding Fathers, naming historical figures such as George Washington, James Madison, Tadeusz Kościuszko, and Abraham Lincoln as his personal heroes, and kept tags and documents from his immigration process as mementos. He was described as "mild-mannered, reserved but cheerful, with a wry sense of humor" and well-liked by his neighbors, but also quiet, shy, and withdrawn, and, by his own account, never formed friendships.
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