Childhood and Family Life
Hamilton Fish was born May 19, 1870 in Washington D.C. He later took the name of his dead brother, Albert. Albert had three siblings: two brothers and a sister. There was a long history in the Fish family of mental illness. At a young age, Albert's father, who was 75 when Albert was born, died, so his mother,32, placed him into an orphanage where he and the other boys were beaten and whipped. Fish soon started to derive pleasure from both being beaten and watching the same thing happen to the other boys. Albert had very little education so he moved to New York to become a male prostitute and also a painter.
Married Life |
Albert Fish's mother arranged a marriage for him and he and his wife had six children. In 1917, Mrs. Fish left Albert for the handyman, John Straube, that lived with the Fishes. Fish's ex and John came back asking for a place to live, Albert allowed his ex-wife to stay but said John could not stay. Mrs. Fish hid John in the attic and would sneak food to him. When Albert found out, he kicked them out and the family never saw them again. After this, Albert was involved in a few relationships with other men and women and later married in 1930; this marriage lasted one week.
|
Children |
Albert's six children, testify that he became obsessed with raw meat and cannibalism. He began bringing large amounts of meat home and would force his children to eat it with him on nights of the full moon. Albert Fish also began intensive research into cannibalism, but as far as the children knew, he did not actually murder anyone yet.
After his wife left, Albert began practicing different forms of self-harm: he had a paddle with spikes and would make his children beat him with it, inserting needles into his body, burning himself, and encouraging people to whip him, all to derive pleasure. |