December 11, 1928: Midwife Charged in Sad Woman's Death

It's unclear if the authorities actually identified the person responsible for the December 11, 1928 abortion death of 21-year-old saleslady Mrs. Lola McConnell Whiteman in Rockford, Illinois.

Lola had been abandoned by her husband, Walter, just days after their marriage in July of 1925. At the time of her death Lola had a three-year-old daughter. She and the child were living with her parents.

Midwife Mary Murawski, age 44, was arrested and charged with perpetrating the fatal abortion. She was released on $3,000 bond.

There is no further new coverage of the case. Since Mrs. Murawski was still living and practicing midwifery in Rockford in the succeeding years she evidently was not prosecuted.

Police also sought the baby's father, but there is no news as to who he was or if they ever caught him.

Watch Was The Midwife Guilty? on YouTube.

Sources: 

• "Woman Arrested In Girls' Death After Operation," Belleville (IL) News-Democrat, December 12, 1928
• "Midwife Faces Charges," The Pantagraph, December 13, 1928
• "Rockford Has Midwife Held for Abortion," DeKalb (IL) Daily Chronicle, December 13, 1938
• "Rockford Midwife Faces Charges After Death," Edwardsville Intelligencer, December 15, 1928
• Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths Index