Sunday, September 29, 2024

September 29, 1915: Russian Immigrant Dies in Chicago

Twenty-one-year-old Anna Marie Dimford died at Rhodes Avenue Hospital in Chicago on September 29, 1915.  

Anna Marie and her family were Russian immigrants, according to Illinois death records. Anna Marie's father, Peter, had been a farmer in Kewanee, Illinois. Her mother, Maggie, ran a boarding house. Anna, then 16 years old, had been working in an iron mill to help support her five younger siblings. 

“The girl left the farm for Chicago thirteen months ago and for a long time her parents didn't know how she earned her livelihood. The last time they heard from her she wrote that she was employed as check girl in a restaurant, her mother said.” 

John Harris, a waiter, admitted to being the baby's father and to having paid $200 for the abortion. He gave the names and addresses of the doctors involved, both of whom fled. Dr. Harold M. Weinbert, who attended Anna in her final illness, said she named a Dr. Ness on the West Side as her abortionist. 

No comments: