Adelaide "Addie" Margaret Dunham was the sister of the notorious San Jose murderer James Dunham, who killed his wife Hattie Wells Dunham and several other people in 1896. Following the murders, Addie and her brother Charles legally changed their surname to "Cobb." The name-change petition states that Addie was born on May 5, 1873, in San Francisco. She and her brother both planned to graduate from the State Normal School and pursue careers in teaching. (San Jose Evening News, Oct. 3, 1896.)
Addie died in San Jose on May 30, 1902, and was laid to rest at Oak Hill Cemetery in San Jose. According to her obituary in the San Jose Evening News (June 2, 1902), she was unable to escape the shadow of her brother. She tried teaching school in Hanford and later in Santa Ana, but was forced to return to San Jose both times after her identity became known. She then secured a position at the Bernal Heights school in San Francisco, but fits of melancholy broke her health and she came back to San Jose after only a few weeks, where, in her weakened state, she died of consumption. The newspaper called her James Dunham's "seventh victim."
San Jose Mercury, May 31, 1902. "COBB—In San Jose, May 30, 1902, Adelaide M. Cobb, a native of California, aged 31 years and 25 days. ... funeral tomorrow (Sunday) at 2 o'clock p.m. from the residence of Mrs. A. M. Smith. Interment Oak Hill Cemetery."
Addie died in San Jose on May 30, 1902, and was laid to rest at Oak Hill Cemetery in San Jose. According to her obituary in the San Jose Evening News (June 2, 1902), she was unable to escape the shadow of her brother. She tried teaching school in Hanford and later in Santa Ana, but was forced to return to San Jose both times after her identity became known. She then secured a position at the Bernal Heights school in San Francisco, but fits of melancholy broke her health and she came back to San Jose after only a few weeks, where, in her weakened state, she died of consumption. The newspaper called her James Dunham's "seventh victim."
San Jose Mercury, May 31, 1902. "COBB—In San Jose, May 30, 1902, Adelaide M. Cobb, a native of California, aged 31 years and 25 days. ... funeral tomorrow (Sunday) at 2 o'clock p.m. from the residence of Mrs. A. M. Smith. Interment Oak Hill Cemetery."
Adelaide "Addie" Margaret Dunham was the sister of the notorious San Jose murderer James Dunham, who killed his wife Hattie Wells Dunham and several other people in 1896. Following the murders, Addie and her brother Charles legally changed their surname to "Cobb." The name-change petition states that Addie was born on May 5, 1873, in San Francisco. She and her brother both planned to graduate from the State Normal School and pursue careers in teaching. (San Jose Evening News, Oct. 3, 1896.)
Addie died in San Jose on May 30, 1902, and was laid to rest at Oak Hill Cemetery in San Jose. According to her obituary in the San Jose Evening News (June 2, 1902), she was unable to escape the shadow of her brother. She tried teaching school in Hanford and later in Santa Ana, but was forced to return to San Jose both times after her identity became known. She then secured a position at the Bernal Heights school in San Francisco, but fits of melancholy broke her health and she came back to San Jose after only a few weeks, where, in her weakened state, she died of consumption. The newspaper called her James Dunham's "seventh victim."
San Jose Mercury, May 31, 1902. "COBB—In San Jose, May 30, 1902, Adelaide M. Cobb, a native of California, aged 31 years and 25 days. ... funeral tomorrow (Sunday) at 2 o'clock p.m. from the residence of Mrs. A. M. Smith. Interment Oak Hill Cemetery."
Addie died in San Jose on May 30, 1902, and was laid to rest at Oak Hill Cemetery in San Jose. According to her obituary in the San Jose Evening News (June 2, 1902), she was unable to escape the shadow of her brother. She tried teaching school in Hanford and later in Santa Ana, but was forced to return to San Jose both times after her identity became known. She then secured a position at the Bernal Heights school in San Francisco, but fits of melancholy broke her health and she came back to San Jose after only a few weeks, where, in her weakened state, she died of consumption. The newspaper called her James Dunham's "seventh victim."
San Jose Mercury, May 31, 1902. "COBB—In San Jose, May 30, 1902, Adelaide M. Cobb, a native of California, aged 31 years and 25 days. ... funeral tomorrow (Sunday) at 2 o'clock p.m. from the residence of Mrs. A. M. Smith. Interment Oak Hill Cemetery."
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