Bernard Millet shot himself inside the Sunflower Room of the Hotel Wolf in Ellinwood, Kansas in 1927. The bullet hole that went through Bernard’s head and into the ceiling was never repaired, and is a current tour highlight at the Historic Hotel Wolf.
This bullet hole isn’t just a tour highlight; it’s mentioned as part of the hotel’s history on the application for placement on the National Register of Historic Places.
“One man, Bernard J. Millet, arrived in Ellinwood in the early afternoon and after doing some shopping downtown, he registered in the Hotel Wolf and prepared for dinner in the dining room. He ordered his meal and ate so slowly that by the time he was almost finished, he was the last person left in the dining room, attracting the attention of the two young ladies working in the dining room, one playing the piano, and the other cleaning up. Suddenly, the man reached into his pocket, took out a pistol, ad shot himself in the head. The suicide in the dining room produced a four-page article in the newspaper detailing the entire event and the life of Mr. Millet, and the dining room ceiling also bore the mark of the incident with a bullet hole as part of its fixture.”
The Historic Hotel Wolf has a framed article on display in the Sunflower Room detailing the event, which blames unrequited love for Bernard’s suicide.
Many newspapers from Barton County during this time period are not available online yet, so I haven’t been able to find the article that is framed and on display at Hotel Wolf. Surprisingly, the sensational article didn’t seem to make it beyond Ellinwood, at least in the newspapers I am able to search. I couldn’t find any newspaper that reprinted the article in full.
However, I was able to transcribe most of it from photos that I took, and there is another full transcription of the article available here.
I also found a brief paragraph about Bernard’s suicide from Waldo, Kansas.
Who Was Bernard J. Millet?
Bernard Joseph Millet was born in Union Town, Kentucky on March 9, 1888 to Alice Clements and Joseph Millet. He was the youngest of their six children, the baby of the family. He moved to Larned, Kansas with his parents in 1908 when he was 20 and began his career as a store manager.
Bernard probably went by B.J., based on the signature on his WWI draft registration card, which describes him as a short and slender man with dark brown hair and gray eyes.
Bernard didn’t just register; he was drafted, and he served with the 164th Depot Brigade at Camp Funston from June-December 1918. “Depot brigades were responsible for receiving, housing, equipping, and training enlistees and draftees, and for demobilizing them after the war.” He joined at the beginning of the worldwide influenza pandemic that began at Camp Funston.
Bernard was apparently unlucky in love. He never married and had no known children at the time he took his own life on February 19, 1927, less than a month before his 39th birthday.
According to the Ellinwood Leader news article that hangs in the Sunflower Room, Bernard “was engaged to one of the popular young women of Larned and … the engagement had recently been broken off.” The article also states that “from letters on his person, it is believed that unrequited love was responsible.” His despondency over the breakup likely led to his fatal decision, though his family claimed to no know reason why he would do it.
Bernard’s parents lived in Wichita at the time of his death, so his body was sent to Wichita for burial. The Wichita Eagle announced his death, but made no mention of it being suicide or that he died at Hotel Wolf. Instead, they reported that he died at his brother’s house in Larned.
Bernard came from a devout Catholic family, so he was buried in a family plot at Calvary Cemetery, and since he was the first Millet to be buried there, the family plot was likely purchased because he died. The photo below came from Find a Grave and is not what his grave looks like today.
When I first visited Bernard’s grave in 2022, I found that the marker with his name, birth, and death dates had been removed. While this could have been damaged by lawn equipment, I am guessing it is due to vandalism. Bernard’s father has the same style of marker and it is not damaged or missing.
Rumors persist that Bernard haunts Hotel Wolf; folks who claim to be paranormal investigators say they captured his disembodied voice in the Sunflower Room saying “pull the trigger,” and the Ellinwood Underground City Foundation tells everyone that Bernard is a paranormal feature of their for-profit venture.
But Bernard was a person, perhaps a troubled one, not a ghost story.
Additional Resources
Tour a underground city in Kansas thought to be haunted, KSN
Wolf Hotel, National Register of Historic Places
The Historic Wolf Hotel and Underground Tunnels, Backroads and Burgers
The Lingering Spirit of Bernard Millet, Ellinwood Underground
Going Underground in Ellinwood, Kansas
Bury Millet in Wichita, The Wichita Eagle, Feb 22, 1927
Historic Wolf Hotel in Ellinwood getting new life with new owner, The Wichita Eagle, Jun 10, 2013
Chicken dinner place with old fashioned feel opens in hotel, The Wichita Eagle, Jan 14, 2018
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