Still Pursuing The Portrait/Photograph Of Marian

I am again awaiting information from the curator at F & M regarding the portrait of Marian that hung in East Hall when the Administrative Offices were relocated there. Upon demolition the location of that portrait became a mystery at least to her family and friends.
I always cringe when I think of where it was hanging. East Hall. The married students' housing where Ed Gibbs had lived with his wife, Helen. Where he hid his bloody clothes under the attic floor boards. From where he glanced out of the window, seeing the law enforcement officers eyeing his car. The building he tore out of in a panic, racing to the office where he breathlessly uttered his confession first.
I am still waiting to hear from a commenter who asked me to contact her. I have no contact info for you but would love to speak with you. Hopefully I will hear from you again soon.

An Open Invitation And A Promise

As Marian's Story, and yes, by now it deserves all capital letters for it is truly her story, finds it way across the miles, and the world wide web, I want to extend an open invitation to those who are new to the site to contact me at any time, via the email links on my profile or here, via the comments feature.
I understand that many of you have preferred to remain in the background and as many of you know, from your interaction with me, you have my promise of complete privacy.
Trust is paramount with me.
I've trusted those new friends who I've come to know because of the work that I'm doing in honor of Marian and they've come to trust me at my word.
This is still painful for those who love her and it remains very sensitive given the nature of the crime and the horrific path the murderer chose.

I am quite open to meeting and interacting with anyone who wants to share their memories or thoughts with me about Marian, Ed Gibbs or the crime itself.
There has been a bit of a surge in interest in my work and I wanted to welcome you to the blog and make sure you know that I am accessible and available if you'd like to contact me.
Thank you for taking the time to read the blog. It's an extremely important story to this day.
Perhaps, even more so now.
And please know that every bit of work I do in this research, every effort I expend, is in honor of Marian.

Two Lines Left Their Points of Origin......And Their Intersection Was Deadly

The Franklin and Marshall College Campus served as the point of intersection for the lines that reperesent the lives of Marian Louise Baker and Edward Lester Gibbs.

Had Marion not been employed there, and had J. Lester and Florence Gibbs not demanded that their only child, son Eddie attend college, they never would have encountered each other.

The photos of the F & M campus show it's beauty from the past. It remains a beautiful campus today.

Steeped in authentic history, it's been the locus of learning of those who have gone into the world to create and generate impact and progress.

Marian Baker loved F & M. She was much more that "just a secretary". Marian was loved and very well thought of. That is precisely why no one even thought of checking the financial records or books when she was reported missing. There was never a question as to her honesty.

Edward Lester Gibbs had been a big fish in a small pond at Pitman High in New Jersey. He had excelled in most sports and was well known and well thought of. His family name was well known and his once uncle had been the Mayor of Pitman. That ended with the 1953 election. I do not for a fact whether his term limits prevented him from running again, whether he ran and lost or given the conviction and execution of his nephew, he decided to avoid the public limelight.

Marian graduated from Penn Manor, having taken the Commercial Course. She was hired shortly after graduation by Hamilton Watch Company, in the cafeteria. By a stroke of good luck, at the time, she was notified of a job opening at Franklin and Marshall College. There was no doubt as to her suitability for any job. She was meticulous, she was a hard worker, a pleasant and respectful and respectable young lady and conscientious beyond measure. She loved her job, she loved the college and she was in the midst of one of the happiest periods in her life. She became engaged at Christmas of 1949 to Edgar Rankin and looked forward to married life.

Marian Baker didn't have a promiscuous day in her life.

She was able to smile and appear to be rather comfortable with others, yet she may have been quite shy on the inside. She smiled easily and was an attractive young woman.

Jealous females who couldn't understand "the draw" of Marian made snide remarks and innuendoes. That practice goes on today, in great numbers and with far more insult included to anyone who the masses don't quite understand.

Marian's easy smile and friendliness, coupled with her lack of promiscuity made her the topic of comments and conversation. In addition to the jealous females, who clearly didn't know Marian at all, the men who got nowhere with Marian added fuel to the fire. The old fashioned, is it really?, practice of claiming to have gotten farther with a female than the facts would support was an insult to Marian.

The salacious claims would have gone down in history unspoken and unknown to all had Marian not been murdered in 1950.

Marian was popular with the college administration and officials. They recognized her loyalty to the school and her class. She was chosen to judge an advertising poster contest of Alpha Delta Sigma on the campus, in early 1949. She joined the ranks of Nancy Stonesifer, the Assistant Professor's wife who also worked with Marian in the Treasurer's Office and Max Hannum, the Assistant to the Dean. Alpha Delta Sigma was the national advertising fraternity. I have been told that Ed Gibbs was a member of Alpha Delta Sigma, being a Business major. Is this where he first met Marian. We know that he knew her from his visits to the Treasurer's Office. But that could have been the setting of Ed's first spying Marian, the beautiful young lady.

Marian participated in the college that she loved so dearly. I have wondered about Marian's later life. Would she have left the college to have children and raise them? Or would she hold the college so dear to her heart and stay on campus and grow and become even more a thread in the fabric of F & M?

The photograph of Marian that hung in the Bursar's Office in East Hall on the campus is of great interest to me and to others very close to Marian. I am in the process of finding out what happened to that photograph.

Did it hang there until the demolition? Was it placed in college storage? I'm anxiously awaiting answers to those questions.

Marian's photograph needs to be rehung. Or a commissioned painting of her needs to replace it.

Her heart belonged to F & M and she would be honored to be remembered there.

What an opposing view of humanity you get when you compare Marian Louise Baker to Edward Lester Gibbs.

There is NO comparison.

Gibbs had his demons. His mother's instability, his father's ineffectual stance.

Overprotected and spoiled, Ed was denied the very tools of development he needed to face life as a functioning adult. But he knew his own shortcomings. He bailed on help at the Guidance Center at F & M.

He needed to stand up to J. Lester and Florence and tell them that as a married adult man he was dropping out of college and getting a job. That was all he needed to do.

His parents needed to allow a separate human being the right to choose how he lived his life.

I hold no pity for Gibbs. I can understand the parts of the horror picture that became his life, but I don't excuse it.

A lack of courage killed Marian Baker.

Gibbs' parents lack of courage in allowing their son to make his own choices and perhaps not live up to the family name.....

Ed's lack of courage in taking a stand and doing what he needed to do. He wasn't going to graduate. He needed to blurt it out, hand his mother a handkerchief and take his lumps.

The Gibbs family in it's entirety is responsible for Marian's murder.

Ed wielded the lug wrench but his parents were sitting on his shoulder.

Societal position and appearance were more important to them than their son's happiness.

I can't imagine the relief Ed would have felt if at Christmas of 1949, when he did indeed tell his mother that there was a chance he'd not graduate, his mother would have shed a few tears and dealt with it.

Instead, her show of histrionics fed Ed's pathological desire to please. So he told her he was just kidding.

Christmas 1949....

Marian is filled with joy and happiness as she becomes engaged to Edgar Rankin.

Ed Gibbs is filled with dark frustration and rage.

And on January 10, 1950 Marian Baker paid the price for the sins of the Gibbs family.

Sad and horrible in its own right.

Now add to that a sloppily written book, by a largely absent author, tossing innuendo and scandal onto the memory of Marian Baker, where it surely didn't belong.

Gehman victimized Marian all over again.

And to this day, those that knew her and love her still just can't cotton to that.

It's never set well. It doesn't today.

Meeting A Friend of A Friend.......of Ed Gibbs and Marian Baker

God Bless the world wide web.
Seriously.
Without it I wouldn't be planning a trip back to Lancaster to meet a new but uncannily close friend.
Without going into the details, he and I came to learn about each other through research I've been doing off and on for the past year or so.
Somehow and for some odd reason, we've developed a friendship that intrigues the both of us, I believe.
I asked for his help on a "project" pulling together loose ends from my research, and he responded wholeheartedly.
Since that time, a second project, my revisiting the Marian Baker murder, caught his attention as well. And out of the blue, he contacted me to let me know he has a friend...who was a good friend of Edward Lester Gibbs.
He also knows someone who can tell me about Marian Baker.
Wow.
I can't wait to meet him.
I think we have much in common.
He's a parent and it's clear he loves his kids, and kids in general. His family has had a very successful and prominent role in the history of Lancaster.
He's a family man, very well known, and philanthropic in his activities.
I promised to loan him a book that he's had problems locating.
There must be a tie between us. I have never, ever considered allowing "that book" out of my possession in forty years :)
Marian Baker was murdered in 1950. So many years have passed.
Any yet, in September of 2009, I have been contacted by people from several states who have information to share with me. They have told me what they know, what they remember, where they have been and what they believe led to the brutal murder.
Some are torn between wanting to share and also wanting me to enjoy the full thrill of the chase.
They give me tips or clues and gently push me in directions I need to go.
I am so grateful to have been contacted by all of them.
I so appreciate the suggestions and tips they've offered to me. They've been down this road before and shared with me some very valuable advice that will open certain doors for me.
Now, I just need some 72 hour days, the ability to teleport to various states and locations and I'll have it made! lol
I'm still "on it". I just have been so preoccupied with classes and homework and work in general that my time has been limited. I'm still searching for that organizational balance I need to get it all done. That goal post is a bit fuzzy :)

Back At The Keyboard!

Hi all! It's been a great week and I've finally got enough done around here to feel as if I can take some time to come back to the blogs!
I made a list tonight of all the daytrips or longer roadtrips I want to make related to the Marian Baker murder.
My son asked me a few days ago why I feel the need to go to the areas or sites related to the case and I had to be honest with him.
I think first of all I truly believe I will come away from it all with a sense of what happened. I have no idea if what I'll come away with will be in keeping with the accepted facts and story, or if I will come away with an even greater sense of covert reasons behind the attack and murder south of Lancaster in 1950.
I hope to create a real timeline, as complete as I can make it for Marian Baker and Ed Gibbs both.
It would be even better to be able to document it all photographically. That may be quite difficult with the chance that previous homes no longer exist, new homes being built on the murder site itself, etc.
Another reason that I feel compelled to do this is to simply make sure that as time goes on, there are some folks who remember Marian Baker. And to some extent, Ed Gibbs too.
They were two young people whose paths crossed and ended up in tragedy for both of them.
Two lives unlived.
When the jury returned with the verdict and sentence of death, even the Judge was stunned.
He did his best to hide it, but he was caught off guard.
When he discharged the jury, he never even thanked them for their service. I think that was in part to his being stunned but also to his shock that the death penalty was handed down.
He presided over the trial in its entirety. He didn't see the death penalty coming.
The horrific tragedy was compounded by the death sentence. The sadness was permeating even further and was so much more widespread.
There is and was some compassion for Ed Gibbs and that has to be acknowledged and accepted as well. Normal people don't bludgeon young girls to death.
And Ed wasn't a monster. He was a tormented and overstressed young man. There were many, many blocks in the road that led him to the wooded area south of Lancaster that cold January day.
And that's IF he did it.
I'm not totally convinced just yet.
I sincerely hope to come away from my own form of revisiting it all with a sense of his guilt or his innocence. That may be too much to hope for.
So, I'm making my plans and trying to do it in a cohesive manner. And once I make the trips, one at a time, I'll document it all here and post all the pics I take.
I just wish I would have been pushier about it all when most of the people "in the know" were still alive. This is going to be extremely hard with them gone. But I love a challenge.

I guess my fascination with what really happened to Marian Baker is very similar to my and others questions as to what really happened in the Roseboro back yard in July of 2008.
We know what happened to Jan. But we don't know how it happened or truly why.
Did Mike snap? Or did he really plan it? Where did the blood go? What caused the puncture wound to Jan's head?
Unless Mike confesses or someone steps forward, we may never know.
Or fifty or sixty years from now, someone may be sitting at a computer, blogging about how the case grabbed a hold of them and how they need to make a road trip to get a sense of what really happened that warm, rainy July night in 2008.....

I Feel As If I've Been Playing Hooky!

Hey all, I feel as if I've been playing hooky lol Of course my blogging isn't my job, nor is it my career, yet! but I am acutely aware that I haven't been hitting the keyboard as much as usual the last few days.
Here's the latest from this end!
I had a few reschedules for this week and it gave me a much welcome chance to spend a good amount of time at home to tackle some much overdue projects!
I'm of the school, " a cluttered house = a cluttered mind". I will never ever be accused of having too little "stuff" or living a barren and simplistic style....
I am very attached to most of my belongings in sentimental ways, but it's time to declutter and get ready for the change in the seasons. I think it's my own form of nesting.
I rearrange furniture. I purge "junk drawers". I like to clean out and declutter right before the change of each season. I just didn't expect it to hit this weekend LOL
So, starting Sunday, I've been working harder at home than I sometimes do on the job. And I love it! It's such a great feeling to look around and see so much accomplished!
There are times when I intentionally schedule "down time" for myself. Those days could include a movie, a day at the beach, a really good book, cooking something I've never made before, online canasta.....But I guess it's my Lancaster County heritage and work ethic that make me "allow" myself an entire day off.
I've been setting things aside for Freecycle, an anticipated yard sale in the Fall, and for Ebay and Craigslist. My to do list is still pages long, but I'm a pretty happy camper tonite :)
And I will get started at the crack of dawn (maybe!) again tomorrow. I am off tomorrow and have tons more to do.
One thing I love about working this hard is how well you sleep afterwards.
I haven't had a Five Hour Energy Shot in days....but I also haven't had one gram of sugar either.
I've learned to read my body and too much sugar really makes me tired and sluggish. So last Tuesday I decided to eliminate it, again.
I've done it lots of times before and sooner or later I cave to an offer of cake or some special recipe someone has made. I know that I would offend them if I decline....you know the rest of the story.
I really don't want to get into the no or low carbohydrate debate with anyone; it gets tedious. And I can only speak for myself and how my system reacts.
But I lived almost zero carbs for three years. My doctor wasn't familiar with Stillman or Atkins and when he saw my lab work he was exuberant.
He told me "whatever it is that you're doing, keep it up!"
Well, an Easter basket from a dear old woman who stood there waiting for me to sample the candy she had so lovingly arranged in that basket, ended the no carb run for three years lol
I had a walking routine also. Six miles a day. Three in the am and three at night. My pace? About 4-4.5 miles an hour. I walk as fast as I can without having to bust out in a sprint.
I'd walk half of it away from home, the other half back....one old farmer, who had watched me for almost a year, finally stopped one day and leaned out the window and smiled at me..."Hey hon, if you'd just keep going in ONE direction, you'd get somewhere!" He laughed and I laughed LOLOL
The humidity finally made me take a break from the walking, but I'm anxious to resume it.
In the meantime, the dreaded treadmill will have to do.
I love walking outdoors, ear buds in place, high energy music blaring in my ears. I do some of my best thinking that way. And not always on purpose.
I remember my daughter going for several jaunts with me a few years back. We watched the progression of the comet in the night sky. That was alot of fun.
So anyway...I'm sugar free, have tons of energy and thankfully the time now to get much done here at home. The weekend and next week will be a different story.
And I start Saturday classes on September 12th.
I think this Fall will be the time of big changes for me.
I'm relearning to think out of the box, and I like it.
I have always looked at life as an adventure, even unintentionally. And I'm looking at it that way again.
So I am back to blogging.
I need to get my notes and thoughts together about several things. The Marian Baker murder in particular.
The trip to Pitman is on hold only because I wanted to get my stuff and my mind in order lol And I think cooler temperatures will make the trip that much more enjoyable. I have heard that New Jersey can be so beautiful in the Fall.
I did find a condensed death notice for Edward Lester Gibb's mother, Florence L. Gibbs.
I'll copy it here and on the Murder in Lancaster County blog. She lived to be 89 years old. She passed away in July of 1993.
I wondered how she lived out her days after her son was electrocuted. Her husband passed years ahead of her. What a tragic thing for any mother to endure. No matter what he did, he was still their son and they loved him completely. As in the Roseboro murder, there were no winners in the Marian Baker murder or Ed Gibb's trial and conviction. His death by electrocution ripped his parents' hearts out. And that is so so sad.

FLORENCE L. GIBBS, 89, of Pitman, died Tuesday at Kennedy Memorial Hospitals/Washington Township Divison.

Mrs. Gibbs attended the First Baptist Church of Woodbury and was a member of the Followers Prayer Group of Gloucester County and the Christian Women's Club of Gloucester County.

Survivors: two nephews.

Services: viewing, 10 a.m. Saturday, Harold E. Haines Funeral Home, 30 W. Holly Ave., Pitman; funeral, 11 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home; burial, Hillcrest Memorial Park, Hurffville.

Note: Harold E. Haines purchased the S. E. Burkett Funeral Home on Holly Avenue. Burkett was the funeral director that handled the preparation and services for Ed Gibbs, her son, after his electrocution in Pennsylvania.

The Marian Baker Murder

My research into Pitman, New Jersey, the hometown of killer Edward Lester Gibbs, led me to these photos and postcards. I posted them randomly.
I have been to Pitman once and plan to return. I want to get current photos of these locations and take some shots of the home where he grew up, the cemetery where he is buried.
In the meantime, this is what I have of the life history in visual form, of Edward Lester Gibbs.

This is where Ed graduated from high school prior to entering the service and then attending college at F&M in Lancaster, PA.

This is not the church where Edward Lester Gibbs married his bride, Helen. That poor woman had no idea what she had signed on for. Ed also reportedly worked for a while at the Esso Station that appears on the card.

The wedding reception the new Mr. and Mrs. Edward Lester Gibbs was held here at the Hotel Pitman. Nothing but the best for their son, some residents of the town felt that perhaps the Country Club would have been more fitting.

Another view of the Hotel Pitman.

I'll update with more photos as I get them, and also clearly lay out the timeline of Ed Gibbs life as it led him to the cold January afternoon where he beat the life out of Marian Louise Baker.