March 19: Scant Info in the Early 20th Century

Another Victim of Eisiminger or Thacker?

Geraldine Easley, age 19, admitted before her death on March 19, 1932*, that she had undergone a criminal abortion. Since Dr. James W. Eisiminger and Dr. Richard E. Thacker had been responsible for a string of other criminal abortion deaths in the Oklahoma City area, suspicion in Geraldine's death naturally leaned toward the two known quack abortionists. However, to my knowledge the specific perpetrator was not identified. (*Her headstone indicates she died in 1931.) Source: "Probe May Show Many Deaths Due to Malpractice," The Fresno Bee-Republican, April 29, 1932


Scant Info on Chicago Deaths

On March 19, 1916, 30-year-old Carolina Petritz died at the Chicago office of midwife Paulina Erlomus, who had perpetrated the fatal abortion there that day. Erlomus was held by the Coroner but the case never went to trial. (Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database)

Olivia Becker, a 34-year-old homemaker and mother of two, died in Chicago from abortion complications on March 19, 1915.  I have been unable to gain any other information about Olivia's death. (Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database)

A Tad More Information in Chicago

At about 4:00 p.m. on March 19, 1907, homemaker Bessie Ruby Simmons, age 30, died at her Chicago home. She left her husband to care for their two young children.

A coroner's jury found that she had died from blood poisoning caused by a criminal abortion perpetrated on February 22. They assigned blame to Dr. Charles D. Hughes (or Hews), who was arrested in the death. Hughes admitted that he had treated Bessie but denied any responsibility for her death. A second doctor, H. Doyle, had been called to attend to Bessie but was cleared of blame by the jury. I can't find any evidence that the case ever went to trial.

Sources:

• Death notice, Chicago Tribune, March 20, 1907
• "Coroner's Jury Holds Doctor," Chicago Tribune, March 21, 1907
• "Doctor Held for Woman's Death," The Inter-Ocean, March 21, 1907

A Suicidal Doctor, a Fake Doctor, and a Psychologist

An Abortion and a Suicide, Pittsburgh, 1901

At about 9 a.m. on July 17, 1901, 23-year-old widow Juliette "Julia" O'Brien, an immigrant from France, died at 3187 Carson Street in Pittsburgh, from complications of an illegal abortion which Julia had told her family had been perpetrated by Dr. Michael A. Arnholt. At the coroner's inquest, Julia's mother, through a French interpreter, added that on or around July 12, "My daughter told me that Dr. Arnholt had abused her several times when she was in his office."

Julia's sister-in-law, Helen Maurice, said that she'd gone to Arnholt's office with Julia. Julia, she said, went back into another area with Arnholt and was there for more than a hour. Julia was pale and weak when she emerged, barely able to walk.

Arnolt went to the family home on July 15, cussing up a storm and berating Julia for telling her family about the abortion. Two other physicians -- Dr. W. H. McCombs and Dr. George P. Rossman, were called in to attend to help attend Julia in her illness. Her mother had told both of them about the abortion, but they failed to report the abortion to the Coroner and were first censured then arrested.

Dr. Arnholt

Julia's brother and sister had been planning to file suit and expose Arnholt's abortion practice if he did not pay them $5000 in damages to cover the cost of caring for the 21-month-old child the abortion had left an orphan. He reportedly begged them on his knees not to subject him to the ignominy of being exposed as an abortionist. Putting him behind bars, he said, would not bring their sister back. Julia's sister said that a distraught Arnholt had torn at his hair and told them, "I know I did wrong. I know I did wrong in causing this poor girl to die." He offered to pay all of the expenses related to Julia's death and to pay $3 per week for the maintenance of Julia's toddler until the child reached the age of 21.

Julia's siblings told Arnholt that they wanted the $5,000 up front instead, and decided to give him time to think about it. they agreed to meet with him on July 23 to discuss the situation. However, several hours before the scheduled meeting Arnholt committed suicide in his office by shooting himself through the heart.


A Phony Doctor, Chicago, 1917

On July 17, 1917, 34-year-old nurse Frances Reinhardt died at Chicago's County Hospital from septic blood poisoning caused by an abortion which police said had been perpetrated by Dr. A. E. Thomas. However, further investigation revealed that a non-physician identified as W. Thomas had appropriated the name from a retired doctor.

W. Thomas had been able to practice medicine without a license for several years until his ruse was exposed after his arrest for Frances' death. The real Dr. A. E. Thomas's brother suspected that the arrested "doctor" had stolen his identity and reported this to the board of health.

The Chicago Daily Tribune notes, "Instead of being a pompous, suave, well fed and dressed charlatan like other quacks who have fallen into the meshes of the law recently, he turned out to be a shaking, wretched, and miserable victim of morphine, whose condition when he was captured bordered on hysteria." Upon arrest, Thomas admitted the ruse to police.

Though he was held by the Coroner for Frances' death, the charges were dropped for a reason I have been unable to determine. I have also found no evidence that anybody else was arrested for the crime.

A Repeat Offender, Oklahoma, 1940

On July 17, 1940, Goldie Crow, 28-year-old wife of Oklahoma City milk truck driver Albert Crow, died of peritonitis from a criminal abortion performed July 2 by Otto C. Lucy. Lucy was a 37-year-old psychologist and teacher, had previously been dean of men at Central State College. He performed the fatal abortion on Goldie while he was out on bail pending trial for the abortion death of Mary Ellen Legge. Though he was not a physician, Lucy had a listing in the telephone book reading "Dr. Otto C. Lucy".

Albert admitted that he had purchased some abortifacients, which had not had their desired effect. He went to Lucy's apartment in June, thinking that Lucy was a doctor. He told him that Goldie was pregnant and that they didn't want the child. He also told Lucy that he had no money, and Lucy said that he couldn't do anything for him.

Otto Lucy

But evidently either Albert found the money or he worked out some arrangement with Lucy, because on July 2, Lucy went to the Crow home at dusk and performed an abortion on Goldie. At some point that evening he called a nurse, Mrs. Ruth Bowen, to assist him. Some time afterward he returned to check on Goldie, found her condition improved, and recommended that she drink fruit juices and plenty of water.

Over the next few days, Goldie's condition deteriorated. Albert called Lucy, who said he'd done all he could for her and told Albert to take his wife to a hospital. Albert called the family doctor, who also said to take Goldie to a hospital. Albert called a taxi and did so. But despite the efforts of doctors there, Goldie died.

During the investigation into Goldie's abortion, police found surgical instruments wrapped in a towel and bloody newspaper, stuffed into a garbage can in the basement of the apartment building where Lucy lived. He was convicted of first degree manslaughter and sentenced to 25 years in the state penitentiary for Goldie's death.

Deadly Docs, Before and After Legalization

1932: Quack Abortionist Arises in Oklahoma City

Dr. Richard Thacker

Dr. Richard E. Thacker (pictured) maintained an office and operating rooms in the Terminal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In the early part of April, 1932, 21-year-old Ruth Hall of Bethany, Oklahoma, went to Thacker's office for an abortion. Over the following days, she took ill. Her mother pestered Thacker into coming to the house to provide aftercare, but had to remind him to sterilize his instruments. Over the upcoming days, Ruth continued to sicken. Her mother called in another doctor but by then it was too late. Ruth died from infection on April 15.

Thacker was prosecuted for Ruth's death. Over his understandable, albeit unsustainable, objections, the court permitted a number of witnesses to testify that after Ruth's visit to his practice, Thacker had performed fatal abortions on Robbie Lou Thompson, Lennis May Roach, and Nancy Joe Lee. The witnesses went into detail about the events, up to and including the death of each of them. It took the jury of twelve men, eight of them fathers, only a little more than one hour and only four ballots to find Thacker guilty of murder.

1997: San Antonio Doctor Sends Teen Home with Hole in her Uterus

Sixteen-year-old Maureen Espinoza underwent a safe, legal abortion at a doctor's office in San Antonio on March 28, 1997. During the abortion, the doctor punctured Maureen's uterus, but didn't note this in her medical records or say anything to her about it, indicating that he simply didn't notice. Maureen was sent home. 

On April 3, she went to the emergency room at Northeast Baptist Hospital. Over the ensuing days, doctors there performed two surgeries to try to save her life, but to no avail. She died on April 15, 1997.

Abortion rights organizations would assert that, while tragic, Maureen's death was just a case of "all surgery has risks." But since roughly 90% of abortions before legalization were done by doctors, the same "all surgery has risks" logic still would have applied.

Mysteries and Doctors' Fatal Handwork

A Mystery Abortion in 1873

Sarah N. Hall, a widow about 31 years of age, died under suspicious circumstances on Sunday, April 6, 1873 at the Grand Central Hotel in Chicago. During her final illness, she was attended by Dr. R. P. Reynolds. Eventually a coroner's jury concluded that Sarah had bled to death from an abortion, but since they were unable to determine how it had happened, they couldn't place blame on Reynolds, who "went on his way rejoicing."

A Doctor Dumps a Body in 1880

On April 7, 1880, a woman's bloody cloak, with clumps of hair clinging to it, was found hanging from a spike protruding from a bridge over the River Rough, just south of the Village of Delray, Michigan, near Detroit. She was eventually identified as 26-year-old Annie Clemens of Bay City, Michigan. Anna, a housekeeper, who had last been seen alive in Detroit on April 2. A coroner's jury investigated and concluded that she had died on April 6 from a botched abortion. An investigation revealed the abortionist to be Dr. William G. Cox, who had a drug store at the corner of Cass and Grand River in Detroit. Henry w. Weaver, "an aged furniture repairer," was also arrested, charged with disposing of Anna's body.

A Typical Chicago Abortion in 1906

Were there really wards full of moribund septic abortion patients in the days before legalization? One physician reported on the septic abortions seen at Chicago's Michael Reese Hospital from 1900 to 1914. This charity hospital, with a policy of never turning away patients, saw 500 septic abortion patients (both induced abortions and miscarriages) during that fifteen-year period. Four of those patients died. I have verified that two of the dead were indeed criminal abortion patients:  Lizzie Orenstein and Bessie Braun.

Bessie, a 22-year-old homemaker and mother of two, died April 6, 1906. Before her death, Both verbally and in a signed statement, Bessie named midwife Julia Gibson as the person who had perpetrated the abortion, for a $5 fee, on March 20. Gibson, who had been at Bessie's bedside during the declaration, shot herself in a suicide attempt. While believing herself to be dying, she confessed to having perpetrated Bessie's abortion. Gibson had previously been indicted for the November 16, 1905 abortion death of 18-year-old  Dorothy Spuhr, who died at County Hospital.

A Flight to a Deadly Doctor in 1969

On April 6, 1969, 35-year-old Mrs. Catherine Barnard of Arvada, Colorado, flew from her home to Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City, and evidently took a taxi to the office of 67-year-old Dr. Virgil Roy Jobe. A cab driver testified that he'd later picked Catherine up at Jobe's office and taken her to the airport. Instead she ended up at South Community Hospital. There, doctors found her gravely ill from a punctured uterus and small intestine. They told her prior to surgery that they needed to know what had happened to her, and she told them Jobe had perpetrated an abortion. Jobe, who was later also charged with performing an abortion on the 17-year-old Oklahoma girl, was convicted in Catherine's death. However, somehow after his conviction the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor negligent homicide charge and Jobe was freed after paying a $1,000 fine.[4]