Wilbur Wright and the serial killer

The Wright brothers will forever be known as the fathers of aviation. On December 17, 1903, Wilbur successfully flew the first airplane for 852 feet in just under a minute.

Many people are unaware that Wilbur Wright faced serious hardships as a teenager. As a result of these hardships, he became the first man to fly an airplane. He would also come into contact with one of Ohio's most notorious serial killers. This killer would take Wright's life down an unexpected path of pain and depression.

Wilbur Wright was born on April 16, 1867 near Millville, Indiana. Susan and Milton Wright were his parents. They had five children. Wilbur was the middle child and spent much time playing with his younger brother Orville, who was four years younger.

When Wilbur was a young man, he was a great athlete and an excellent student. His sports activities included football, skating, and gymnastics. While in school, he studied Geometry, Latin and Geology. After high school, he planned to attend Yale University.

However, everything changed for Wilbur during the winter of 1885-1886. While playing a game of hockey near the Dayton Soldiers' Home, another boy knocked out Wilbur's front teeth with a hockey stick. Although Wilbur never knew whether the blow was intentional or accidental, it changed his life significantly. After much suffering, Wilbur was fitted for false teeth.

Most people don't realize the connection between Wilbur and the boy who smashed his face. The boy who knocked out Wilbur’s teeth was a local bully named Oliver Crook Haugh. He lived near the Wright family. Despite being younger than Wilbur, he was large for his age. Haugh eventually went to medical school and became a physician. But he wasn't a good healer. He became addicted to cocaine and became one of Ohio's earliest serial killers.

Haugh was married nine times and is suspected of having killed four of his wives. Despite not knowing how many people Haugh killed, it's believed he killed at least 13. On April 19, 1907, he was put to death by electric chair. Afterwards, he suffered from digestive issues as well as heart palpitations. Over the next three years, he lived at home as a recluse. In addition to quitting high school, he gave up on athletics and his dream of attending Yale.

In lieu of college, Wilbur focused on building the first airplane with his brother Orville. The brothers loved bicycles and experimented with mechanical projects. They also followed the work of Otto Lilienthal, a German aviator. The brothers began experimenting with flying after Lilienthal died in an accident.

Their experiments began at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where they had strong winds. Their research focused on the wings of birds. And as they say, the rest of the story is history.

So how much did Wilbur’s injury affect his life and possibly alter history? Had Haugh not injured Wilbur, he probably would have graduated from high school and gone on to study at Yale.

If he had attended Yale, would he have even tried to build the first airplane with his brother Orville? Or would he have pursued a completely different career path? In time, someone else would have invented the airplane, but it would have been later than 1903.

Wilbur Wright died on May 30, 1912 of Typhoid fever at his home in Dayton, Ohio. He was only 45 years old. His death made global news. So whenever you take a flight for your next business trip or vacation, you have the Wright brothers to thank.

Marc is a long-time resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com or through Facebook: www.Facebook.com/themarcabe or his Twitter account @themarcabe. Marc also has a podcast called Catch my Killer where he interviews family members seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. You can listen at www.catchmykiller.com.