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Solved case · 1911
Also known as Taliesin (studio) · Taliesin East
The short answer
On August 15, 1914, a servant at architect Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin estate near Spring Green, Wisconsin, attacked residents and staff with a hatchet and set fire to the living quarters, killing Wright's partner Mamah Borthwick, her two children, and four others. The accused, Julian Carlton, was indicted but died in jail before he could be tried.
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Taliesin is a house-and-studio complex built by architect Frank Lloyd Wright near Spring Green, Wisconsin, beginning in 1911. Wright designed the estate with Mamah Borthwick, with whom he had begun a relationship after both left their marriages. Borthwick lived there amid public scrutiny, as Wright had not yet divorced and Borthwick's former husband retained custody of their two children.
On August 15, 1914, while Wright was away in Chicago, a fire was set at the estate and seven people were killed in an attack on its residents and staff. Julian Carlton, a 31-year-old servant who had been given notice that his employment was ending and who had reportedly been subjected to racial abuse by a member of the estate's staff, was identified as the attacker. Because the case was never tried, the sequence of events was reconstructed from the two survivors and the physical evidence: the attacker used a hatchet against Borthwick and her two children, John (11) and Martha (8), and against several staff, then set fire to the living quarters using gasoline. Those killed were Mamah Borthwick; her children John and Martha; draftsman Emil Brodelle; foreman Thomas Brunker; Ernest Weston, the 13-year-old son of employee William Weston; and gardener David Lindblom, who died several days later. Two draftsmen survived: Herbert Fritz escaped through a window, and William Weston helped extinguish the fire, saving the studio.
Carlton was found to have swallowed acid in an apparent attempt to take his own life and survived. He was arrested the same day and indicted on August 16, 1914, for the murder of Emil Brodelle — the one death directly witnessed by a survivor — and pleaded not guilty. He died in the Dodgeville jail on October 7, 1914, from the effects of the acid, before the case could be heard. Wright buried Borthwick at nearby Unity Chapel and later rebuilt the estate's residential wing, known afterward as Taliesin II.
8 dated entries · 1911–1915
Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick begin developing the Taliesin estate near Spring Green, Wisconsin.
Draftsman Emil Brodelle racially abuses employee Julian Carlton.
Julian Carlton attacks residents and staff at Taliesin with a hatchet and sets fire to the living quarters, killing Mamah Borthwick, her son John, draftsman Emil Brodelle, and wounding others; Carlton attempts suicide and is arrested by Sheriff John Williams.
Martha Cheney, foreman Thomas Brunker, and Ernest Weston die later that day or that night from injuries sustained in the attack.
Gardener David Lindblom dies of injuries sustained in the attack.
Julian Carlton is indicted and charged with the murder of Emil Brodelle; he pleads not guilty.
Julian Carlton dies in his jail cell in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, from esophagitis caused by ingesting hydrochloric acid, before his case could be heard.
Reconstruction of Taliesin's residential wing, known as Taliesin II, is completed by spring.
9 named in this file
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Gardener who died on August 18, 1914, from injuries sustained in the attack.[3]
Draftsman mortally wounded by Julian Carlton; the only death directly witnessed by a survivor and the basis of the murder charge against Carlton.[3]
13-year-old son of William Weston, died from injuries sustained in the attack.[3]
Mamah Borthwick's 11-year-old son, killed in his chair during the attack.[3]
Killed by a hatchet blow to the head during the August 15, 1914 attack at Taliesin.[3]
Mamah Borthwick's 8-year-old daughter, pursued and killed in the courtyard during the attack.[3]
Foreman who died from injuries sustained in the attack, later that day or that night.[3]
Employee charged with the murder of Emil Brodelle following the August 15, 1914 attack; pleaded not guilty and died in jail before trial.[3]
Sheriff who located and arrested Julian Carlton on the day of the attack.[3]
3 cited
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
Official / agencynpgallery.nps.govAccessed Jul 10, 2026
PressThe Capital TimesAccessed Jul 11, 2026
EncyclopedicWikipediaAccessed Jul 10, 2026
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Near this case
SOLVEDListenTaliesin estate, near Spring Green, Wisconsin · 1910s
On August 15, 1914, an employee at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin estate near Spring Green, Wisconsin, attacked residents and staff with a hatchet and set the living quarters on fire, killing Wright's partner Mamah Borthwick, her two children, and four others. The assailant was arrested the same day and died in jail before trial.
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