Pa Rattin

DESCRIPTION: "Home came old Pa Rattin," drunk. Sometimes Pa Wrattin is one of the victims. The death of Ma, Grandma, and children are described, e.g. "To the door came old Ma Rattin, Come to let him in. He stabbed her with a bread knife, And let the daylight in."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1945 (Bronner/Eskin-FolksongAlivePart2); the MidwestFolklore version was reportedly taken down in 1940
KEYWORDS: homicide drink brother mother husband baby wife
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sep 18, 1893 - James "Bud" Stone leaves his home and murders his neighbors the Wrattens: Denson Wratten, his mother Elizabeth Wratten, his wife Ada Wratten, and children Ethel, Stella, and Henry. He is seeking money that the reportedly had hidden. The murders took place near Glendale, Indiana
Oct 1893 - Stone is tried and convicted for murder
Feb 16, 1894 - Execution of Stone for the murders
FOUND IN: US(MA,SW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Bronner/Eskin-FolksongAlivePart2 51, "Pa Rattin" (1 text, 1 tune)
MidwestFolklore, Paul G. Brewster, "A Burlesque Version of 'The Rattan Family,'" Volume II, Number 2 (Summer 1952), p. 92, "The Ra-Tin Family" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #24597
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Rattin Family
The Ballad of the Rhetton Family
The Wretton Family
NOTES [123 words]: This history behind this was researched by Paul Slade, whose information is available at planetslade.com; look for "The Wratton Family Murders." The dates are based on what he found, mostly based on Indiana newspaper accounts.
The song is correct in saying that the murders were exceedingly bloody, and that Stone used all sorts of devices for them (e.g. a "corn knife"), although some of the versions degenerate to parody, with the murderers using random gadgets in ridiculous ways. Many versions of the song are, however, confused, in blaming a drunk Pa Ratton for the murders. Stone seems to have indeed been drunk, but Denson Wratton played no part in the crimes; he was reportedly sick with typhoid, and was one of the victims. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: BrE2051

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