MLB star Babe Ruth has left a massive legacy behind him, and even after 76 years of his demise, he is still one of the most famous American baseball players. But with his illustrious baseball career comes a dark and mysterious scandal surrounding his estranged wife’s demise in the Watertown fire.
Nicknamed “the Bambino” and “the Sultan of Swat,” Babe Ruth was born George Herman Ruth on February 6, 1895.
The legend embarked on his victorious baseball journey as a star left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox.
However, Ruth gained notoriety after becoming an outfielder for the New York Yankees and later became one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture.
After a Failed Marriage With Babe Ruth, Helen Woodford Started a Relationship With Edward Kinder!
Legendary Babe Ruth married Helen Woodford on October 17, 1914, as a teenager. The two met at a coffee shop in Boston, where she worked as a waitress.
Ruth claimed that their wedding ceremony took place in Elkton, Maryland. However, the record shows that he married Woodford at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Ellicott City.
The couple eventually adopted a daughter in 1921 and named her Dorothy. But their happy marriage was short-lived, as they decided to split around 1925.
It was Ruth’s recurring neglect and infidelities that caused their separation. After a painful separation, Helen rubbed elbows with Edward Kinder, a dentist.
Helen came to work as a housekeeper for Kinder; however, they felt a spark and eventually began a relationship.
Soon, Helen moved in with Edward at his home in Watertown, Massachusetts, where they lived as a married couple.
Moreover, she went under the name “Mrs. Helen Kinder” and lived happily with her new-found lover.
But tragedy struck in their life when faulty wiring sparked a fire that swept through the Watertown house on January 10, when Helen was alone at home.
Later, Captain John Kelly of the Watertown Fire Department discovered Helen on the floor of her bedroom.
Helen was rushed to her neighbor’s home, but sadly, she succumbed to her injuries 12 hours later.
Edward was with her during her last moments since he arrived a few hours before she took her last breath.
Initially, the news reported Helen’s demise as the wife of a well-known Watertown dentist. Moreover, people arranged her funeral under the name “Helen Kinder.”
However, her demise became a nationwide story after police received an anonymous tip revealing her real identity.
Despite Claims of Murder by Helen Ruth’s Family, Babe Ruth’s Activities Said Otherwise!
Babe Ruth was in New York at the time of this tragic incident. After the news broke that Helen was actually Babe Ruth’s wife, Ruth, along with Helen’s sisters, went to Boston to confirm Helen’s body.
Babe Ruth told the reporters,
“Boys, I’m in a terrible fix. The shock has been a very great one to me. Please let my wife alone. Let her stay dead. That’s all I’ve got to say.
I haven’t lived with my wife for three years. In that period I have seen her only a few times. I have done everything to comply with her wishes. Her death is a great shock to me. That’s all I have to say.”
Babe Ruth
Later, the Watertown Police interviewed Edward Kinder for four hours. He admitted that he and Helen weren’t married.
Furthermore, Kinder revealed that Babe Ruth knew Helen’s whereabouts.
Her funeral services were held on January 17; this time, Babe Ruth also attended. Helen’s grave was at the Calvary Cemetery in Mattapan, Massachusetts.
Helen left her estate valued at $50,000 in her will to her daughter Dorothy. Similarly, she left $5 each to her husband, mother, and siblings.!
Regardless of reports, Helen’s family was in denial and refused to believe that an accident caused the fire. Her brother Thomas went as far as asking,
“What is there to prove the house wasn’t fired? What is there to prove that she wasn’t murdered?”
Thomas Woodford
The family’s outrage led the District Attorney General Robert T. Bushnell to release a statement in the Boston Globe:
“The case is closed as far as this office is concerned, and, I hope, for the sake of the unfortunate woman who cannot speak for herself, that it is closed as far as anyone is concerned.”
Furthermore, Suffolk County Medical Examiner George B. McGrath performed a second autopsy, confirming the initial autopsy reports.
Waltham District Court Judge Michael J. Connolly consequently examined the case and concluded:
“On all of the evidence I find that Helen W. Ruth met death through suffocation and burns between 6:30 and 11 p.m. I find no unlawful act or criminal negligence on the part of anyone contribute to her death.”
Nonetheless, according to Helen’s family, she always lived in fear of her husband, Babe Ruth. Helen’s niece, Patricia Grace, said:
“Aunt Helen was in fear for her life because Babe Ruth wanted a divorce because he was carrying on with women. Of course, we were a Catholic family and she would not divorce. He was trying to get rid of her. He had these hoodlums or what have you. Those are the stories my mother told me.”
But according to the official reports, Ruth’s regular payment to Helen, and his visible sadness at Helen’s death said otherwise.
Nevertheless, Babe Ruth married his longtime mistress, Claire Merrit Hodgson, three months after Helen’s death.
Shortly after Helen’s passing, his decision to marry Claire further fueled the speculations.
The couple later adopted Claire’s daughter, Julia, making it their second and last marriage.
Moreover, in her book My Dad, The Babe, Dorothy claimed that she was Ruth’s biological child and that her mother, Juanita Jennings, was Ruth’s mistress.
In 1980, Juanita admitted this fact to Dorothy and Dorothy’s sister, Julia, when she was on her deathbed.
While Ruth undoubtedly had a well-decorated baseball career, his personal life was filled with alcoholism, infidelities, and mysteries.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Babe Ruth was born in the house which belonged to his maternal grandfather Pius Schamberger whow was a German immigrant and trade unionist.
- Ruth’s parents, Katherine and George Herman Ruth Sr., were both of German ancestry and according to the 1880 census, his parents were both born in Maryland.
- On June 8, 1921, Ruth was arrested in Manhattan for speeding—albeit at 26 miles per hour and sentenced to spend the rest of the day in jail.
