Editing Ed Gein (section)

==Early life==
=== Childhood ===
Edward Theodore Gein was born in [[La Crosse, Wisconsin|La Crosse]], [[Wisconsin]], on August 27, 1906,<ref name="birthrecord"/> the second of two sons to George Philip Gein (1873–1940)<ref name="Schechter2010">{{cite book |first=Harold |last=Schechter |authorlink=Harold Schechter|title=Deviant |year=2010 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York City|isbn=978-1-4391-0697-6 |page=50}}</ref> and Augusta Wilhelmine Gein (''[[née]]'' Lehrke; 1878–1945).{{sfn|Schechter|1989|p=59}} Gein had an older brother named Henry.{{sfn|Schechter|1989|p=54}} Augusta, who was fervently religious and nominally [[Lutheran]],<ref name="autogenerated2007">{{cite book |first1=Anne |last1=Williams |first2=Vivian |last2=Head |first3=Amy |last3=Williams |title=Fiendish Killers: Perpetrators Of The Worst Possible Evil |publisher=Futura Publishing |location=London|date=2007 |isbn=978-0708807255}}</ref> frequently preached to her sons about the innate [[immorality]] of the world, the evil of drinking and her belief that all women were naturally promiscuous and instruments of [[Satan|the devil]]. She reserved time every afternoon to read to them from the Bible, usually selecting verses from the [[Old Testament]] and the [[Book of Revelation]] concerning death, murder and [[divine retribution]].<ref name="autogenerated2007"/> Gein idolized and became obsessed with his mother.<ref>{{cite web | first=Amy | last=Beeman |url=https://www.grunge.com/372470/the-truth-about-ed-geins-obsession-with-his-mother/ | title=The Truth About ed Gein's Obsession with His Mother | website=[[Grunge.com]] | date=April 2, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ed-Gein | title=Ed Gein &#124; Biography, Story, Movie, Crimes, & Facts | website=[[Britannica.com]] | date=April 26, 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | first=Austin | last=Harvey |url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/augusta-wilhelmine-gein | title=Inside the Twisted Relationship of Serial Killer Ed Gein and His Mother — Which Helped Inspire 'Psycho' | website=All That's Interesting |date=September 18, 2023 }}</ref>

George Gein worked as a carpenter, [[Tanning (leather)|tanner]] and in the city fire department. He also owned a local grocery shop but soon sold the business and left the city with his family to live on a {{convert|155|acre|ha|adj=on|abbr=off}} farm in the town of [[Plainfield (town), Wisconsin|Plainfield, Wisconsin]],<ref name=":1">{{cite web |url=http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/58945/Plainfield+Township/Waushara+County+1924/Wisconsin/ |title=Plainfield Township, Atlas: Waushara County 1924, Wisconsin Historical Map |website=Historic Map Works |access-date=March 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304040855/http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/58945/Plainfield+Township/Waushara+County+1924/Wisconsin/ |archive-date=March 4, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> which became their permanent residence.<ref name="biography">{{cite AV media|people=Alex Flaster (producer)|title=Biography: Ed Gein|date=2004|publisher=[[A&E Television Networks]]|location=Los Angeles, California}}</ref> Augusta took advantage of the farm's isolation by turning away outsiders who could have influenced her sons.<ref name="biography"/> 

[[File:1930 census Gein.jpg|thumb|190px|[[1930 United States census|1930 US Census]] with Gein (13th name from the top) in [[Plainfield, Wisconsin]].]]
Gein left the farm only to attend school. Outside of school, he spent most of his time doing chores on the farm. Gein was shy; classmates and teachers remembered him as having strange mannerisms, such as seemingly random laughter, as if he were laughing at his own personal jokes. Augusta punished Gein whenever he tried to make friends, according to family acquaintances. Despite his poor social development, Gein did fairly well in school, particularly in reading.<ref name="biography"/>

=== Deaths in immediate family ===
On April 1, 1940, Gein's father died of [[heart failure]] at age 66. Gein and his brother Henry began doing odd jobs around town to help cover living expenses. The brothers were generally considered reliable and honest by the rest of the community. While both worked as handymen, Gein also frequently babysat for neighbors. He enjoyed babysitting, seeming to relate more easily to children than adults. Henry began dating a divorced mother of two and planned to move in with her. He worried about his brother's attachment to their mother and often spoke ill of her around Gein, who responded with shock and hurt.<ref name="biography"/>

On May 16, 1944, Gein was burning away marsh [[vegetation]] on the property;{{sfn|Gollmar|1981|p=85}} the fire got out of control, drawing the attention of the local fire department. By the end of the day—the fire having been extinguished and the firefighters gone—Gein reported Henry missing. With lanterns and flashlights, a search party searched for 43-year-old Henry, whose dead body was found lying face down.<ref name="Wisconsin Rapids Page 1">{{cite news |title=Rites Today For Man Who Died in Roche-a-Cri Fire |newspaper=[[Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune]] |publisher=Thomsen Newspapers, Inc.|location=Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin|date=May 19, 1944|page=1}}</ref> Apparently, Henry had been dead for some time, and it appeared that the cause of death was heart failure since he had not been burned or injured otherwise.<ref name="Wisconsin Rapids Page 1"/> 

It was later reported by biographer [[Harold Schechter]] that Henry had bruises on his head.{{sfn|Schechter|1989|p=30}}{{sfn|Schechter|1989|p=31}} Police dismissed the possibility of foul play and the county [[coroner]] later officially listed [[asphyxia]]tion as the cause of death.<ref name="biography"/>{{sfn|Schechter|1989|p=30}}{{sfn|Schechter|1989|p=31}} The authorities accepted the accident theory, but no official investigation was conducted and an autopsy was not performed.{{sfn|Gollmar|1981|p=86}} Questioning Gein about the death of Bernice Worden in 1957, state investigator Joe Wilimovsky brought up questions about Henry's death.{{sfn|Gollmar|1981|p=85}} George Arndt, who studied the case, wrote that, in retrospect, it was "possible and likely" that Henry's death was "the '[[Cain and Abel]]' aspect of this case."{{sfn|Gollmar|1981|p=8}}{{sfn|Gollmar|1981|p=9}}

With Henry deceased, Ed and Augusta were now alone. Augusta had a [[Paralysis|paralyzing]] [[stroke]] shortly after Henry's death, and Ed devoted himself to taking care of her. Sometime in 1945, he later recounted, he and his mother visited a man named Smith, who lived nearby, to purchase straw. According to Ed, Augusta witnessed Smith beating a dog. A woman inside the Smith residence came outside and yelled for him to stop, but Smith beat the dog to death. Augusta was extremely upset by this scene; however, what bothered her did not appear to be the brutality toward the dog but, rather, the presence of the woman. Augusta told Ed that the woman was not married to Smith and so had no business being there, and angrily called her "Smith's harlot". She had a second stroke soon after, and her health deteriorated rapidly.<ref>{{cite web |first=Denise|last=Noe |url=http://mensnewsdaily.com/2007/04/27/augusta-gein-the-woman-who-drove-a-man-psycho/ |title=Augusta Gein, the woman who drove a man Psycho |work=Men's News Daily |date=April 27, 2007 |access-date=September 25, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927193955/http://mensnewsdaily.com/2007/04/27/augusta-gein-the-woman-who-drove-a-man-psycho/ |archive-date=September 27, 2013 }}</ref> Augusta died on December 29, 1945, at the age of 67. Ed was devastated by her death; in the words of Schechter, he had "lost his only friend and one true love. And he was absolutely alone in the world."{{sfn|Schechter|1989|p=30}}{{sfn|Schechter|1989|p=31}}