November 19, 1922: After Bribes and Near-Brawl, Doctor Beats the Rap

Frances Guest, an immigrant from England, was an 18-year-old clerk in the shipping department at Evanston Women's Christian Temperance Union. She died on from complications of a criminal abortion on November 19, 1922.

Frances' sister, Mary Kramer, testified that she had brought Frances to Dr. Robert C. Hamilton's Chicago office and dickered over the cost of an abortion. Hamilton, Mary said, had wanted $35 ($620 in 2022 dollars), but Mary only had $25 so they left. Mary apparently had availed herself of Hamilton's services herself in the past, since she declined to answer if she had ever done so.

Frances' sister-in-law, Elizabeth Guest, evidently eventually accompanied Frances for an abortion. She said that she'd waited in Hamilton's waiting room for about half an hour. She also said that she'd seen the aborted baby.

"When [Frances] came out," Elizabeth said, "she was jubilant and joked a lot on the way home. That was on a Tuesday in October. The following Sunday she was very sick. I came into her room while she lay on a couch ill."

Dr. John D. Brix testified that Frances's mother, Myra, had called him and asked him to come to the home and care for Frances on several occasions between the abortion and her hospitalization. Brix said that Myra told him that the abortion had been performed by "Dr. Hamilton, with offices on Belmont avenue near Halsted street." Brix said that he knew which doctor Myra meant. 

Dr. I. H. Chilcott, who had cared for Frances at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, testified about her death. Dr. J. N. Goltra, the coroner's physician, testified that Francis had died from blood poisoning. Hamilton's defense argued that the blood poisoning might have been caused by a pre-existing condition.

Frances reportedly made a deathbed statement implicating Hamilton.

Hamilton perjured himself on the stand by contradicting sworn statements he had made during the inquest. As he was leaving the stand, Frances's mother came forward and testified that she and other relatives withheld or modified their testimony in return for $450 in cash ($6,900 in 2022 dollars) and a promise of $450 more if the verdict was for acquittal. W. C. Dannenberg, an investigator for the defense team, dickered with Myra over the amount of the bribe. Myra's confession was substantiated by banking records and other relatives. This testimony caused an outburst in the courtroom. 

Jury deliberations were contentious, nearly devolving into a fistfight before finally voting for acquittal as the original five jurors voting for conviction were swayed. "We agreed in our arguments before we balloted that Dr. Hamilton probably committed an abortion on Frances Guest," said the jury foreman. "We did not try him for abortion, but for murder. There were too many doctors who treated the girl; there was too much time between the operation and the death; and there were jurors who were influenced by the fact that a penitentiary sentence for Hamilton really was a life sentence. There was too much reasonable doubt as to whether he caused the death."

I've found no evidence that any of the involve parties -- including George Alf, believed to be the baby's father -- were charged with any crimes.

Watch Lingering Death Means Acquittal on YouTube.

Sources:

• "Expects Action by Grand Jury in Girl's Death," Chicago Daily Tribune, December 12, 1922
• "Physician Faces Trial for Murder in Abortion Case," Chicago Tribune, February 27, 1923
• "Many Testify Against Doctor as Abortionist," Chicago Daily Tribune, April 10, 1923
• "Girl's Death 15 Years Ago Cited Against Doctor," Chicago Daily Tribune, April 11, 1923
• "Dead Girl's Kin Confess Taking Abortion Bribe," Chicago Daily Tribune, April 12, 1923
• "Dr. Hamilton is Freed of Murder; Jurors Wrangle," Chicago Tribune, April 13, 1923