January 5, 1876: From Cheerful to Dead in Moments

January 3d, 1876
Mother: This bright morning will I write what my mind contains. It will be but a short time, perhaps, till my eyes will be closed in death; perhaps my time would come sooner had I prepared myself. Put me beneath the old oak tree in Bethel grave yard, where the boughs will wave o'er me when the winter winds come, and will disturb not my slumber. You will put on my brown dress; I will put the clothes I want on, all in place in my trunk, where you may find them. I can write this without a tear in my eye, or bit of nervousness, for I know my time has nearly come.

Alphia Robinson, age 18, was evidently known locally as Alfi or Effy. Most news coverage identifies her as Effy so that's the name I'll use.

Effy had been living with a man named Amos Kimberly for about two years in Iowa Township, Iowa, apparently as a domestic servant. This was not her first such job. Census records show her at the age of 13, in 1870, living as a domestic servant in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Savage and their two children, ages 3 and 11.

Some time in mid-November of 1876, Effy returned to the home of her mother and stepfather in Des Moines. She'd stayed about two weeks. Then on November 28 she went to the area of Springdale to visit her 17-year-old sister, Lilly May Southwick, and Lilly's husband, Mark. It was then that some of her family members learned that all was not well with the young woman.

Effy had been accompanied to the Southwick home by a Dr. J. T. Houser.

It took a while for Effy to tell her sister anything about why she was being seen by Dr. Houser, and then she only said "it was inflammation of some part of her," Lilly May said. Dr. Houser had instructed Effy to take "injections" -- by which she seemed to mean douches -- of water "as warm as she could bear." 

On December 2, Dr. Houser came to check on his patient, making what Lilly May characterized as "a thorough examination of her." He told Lilly May nothing about why he was treating her sister. Lilly May said that her sister seemed to feel better after taking the medicine Dr. Houser provided on this visit. The second visit was a little more than a week later. The third visit was around December 21. Effy didn't seem to be feeling very well after taking the last medicine Dr. Houser provided. This medicine Lilly May described as "the dark medicine in a square bottle," which Effy was supposed to take three times a day. 

At no time during that visit did Effy say she thought she would die. However, Lilly May was present during one of Dr. Houser's examinations and thus did know that Effy was pregnant and that this was why she was being seen by a doctor.

Though Lilly May said nothing about Effy being pregnant, both she and her husband clearly knew. Mark testified that Houser had not brought the medicine with him to the house but had mailed it in a sealed box. Mark testified to overhearing a conversation Effy had with Lilly May: "I heard her tell my wife that he said it would bring water from the womb, and that it did so and she felt better."

He also testified about conversations he'd had with Dr. Houser, particularly the one they'd had on January 1 -- the Sunday before Effy died, though the testimony reveals little beyond Mark confirming that his sister-in-law was pregnant and that her visits from Dr. Houser were related to the pregnancy.

"I asked him if he had heard the reports about the girl; he said he heard them before he came to see her. I asked if he could tell whether there was anything wrong; he said he could not say -- there were some things to show she was, and others to show she was not. I asked him about internal examination; he said he did not examine very thoroughly. He then stated that if there was anything wrong, that his examination would be very likely to cause death of the child, or her, or both. I then asked the same question I asked at first in another way -- I told him he said he had examined her thoroughly. He then said he did examine further than he ought. Then after that he told me that there were probably other parties who knew about this, and that if she would come to him he would send her to Chicago to a lying-in hospital."

After Effie's death, Mark said, he spoke to Dr. Houser again. "He told me further that he thought Kimberly ought to be brought to justice and ought to stand the expense all the way round." 

According to the February 16, 1876 Waterloo (IA) Courier, several of the neighbors were suspicious after Effy's burial and created enough of a stir that the authorities ordered Effy's body exhumed for an autopsy and the convening of a coroner's jury. "It has since come to light that the fiend who accomplished her ruin is a wealthy cattle buyer with a large and respected family."

She had laid out burial clothing and left a letter for her mother saying that she had a premonition that she might die suddenly. 

On January 5, 1876, she went up to her room "in a cheerful manner, and in apparent good health," but a few moments later her mother went up and found her dead. 

The following snippets of information come from news coverage of the inquest:

Mary F. Doty said that she'd seen Alphia's body about half an hour after her death. Alphia's face was purplish and her lips were blue. She had a bruise on her forehead from a fall. Nobody told her why Alphia had died. Mary didn't look around and take note of the room or its contents. Isabella Carney, who had accompanied Mary, gave similar testimony.

Susanhah Lightfoot said that she'd arrived about half an hour after Mary and Isabella and stayed overnight at the home. She'd known Alphia about four or five years and had known her to be in good health. Otherwise her testimony was similar to that given by Mary and Isabella.

Daniel D. Doty gave hearsay testimony. He said that Alphia's stepfather, John Lucenea, told him that Alphia "had not been complaining, but had been doctoring for three months." He hadn't known who the doctor was but believed the "doctoring" was for "female disease." Mr. Doty said he'd asked Alphia's mother if it had seemed very sudden and she'd said yes but hadn't elaborated.

John Lucenea, Abbia's stepfather, said that she had returned to the family home a week or ten days prior to her death. "I knew she was doctoring, but did not know what for. I only knew from hearsay with whom she doctored. I saw some medicine in bottles [shown to him and identified during his testimony] but have no knowledge of instruments being used." He'd last seen her about 25 minutes before her death. She'd gone upstairs at 5 or 6 pm. "My son first told me of her death. I was never more surprised and shocked in my life. She was working at Amos Kimberly's before she came home; had been there about two years. She was on the floor when I came up stairs, and breathed but a few times, and gasped, and then we put her on the bed. Didn't notice any blood. She was lying on her back, her hands lying loose naturally. Did not see any bottle or instrument. Saw a bruise on the right side of her face after light was brought. Her face when I first saw it looked flushed and natural. Breathed as any person would in last struggles. No muscular convulsion; she was limber. When after the women, and when I came in with them she looked pale. Could not see any great difference in her face."

Lucinda Lucernea, Abbia's mother, said that she'd come home from Amos Kimberly's place about 7 1/2 weeks earlier. She'd stayed two weeks with her mother and stepfather, then went to her sister's home near Springdale for four weeks before returning home. Abbia had attended a party in Centerdale on Christmas. "Her usual health was not good, although she looked rugged. She seemed to lack strength, but she did not complain much. She first complained of a cold or the effects of a cold -- pain in the side and weakness across the kidneys." Alphia "said she had been doctoring ever since she caught cold in September. She made such statements in relation to the cold that I employed Dr. Houser, of West Branch, by her consent. I was not present at any time he prescribed for her, but talked with him prior. There was suspension of menses; on being questioned by me she said there was nothing but a cold to cause this. I told the doctor, but did not consult him in reference to it arising from any other cause by a cold. I made no censures. I raised the child and had found her faithful. Dr. Houser was not our family physician; I employed him because I had heard him recommended in female diseases. I only had one interview with him, and it was then left to the girl's consent to be treated or not. The doctor said she would have to go through a thorough examination. Heard him make no remarks as to its arising from any other cause than a cold. The deceased told me that Dr. Houser said it was inflammation of some internal female organ -- she could not remember the name he gave to it. She said he was treating her for that disease, both by administration of medicine and by injections. She was following his advice, but not punctually." Upon being shown some bottles, Alphia's mother continued, "The bottle marked, 'Use as you did the last,' was to be worn on saturated cotton during the night in the vagina, to be followed in the morning by an injection of as hot water as could be borne. Don't know that she used cold water unless it was the evening she died. I went out to milk and she prepared the water in my absence. The first I heard on coming in was the noise of the injecting instrument against the dish, and almost immediately heard her falling. I found her lying on her back with hands over hear head. Her face was frightfully dark. She seemed unconscious and was dead from anything we could see. She only breathed three times, did not seem to struggle. She ironed clothes during the day and did not complain unusually. The light colored medicine was to be used three times a day in the dark fluid contained in the other round bottle. I think she used these a week before she went to the physician. According to her statement, they were obtained at King's drug store in Wester Liberty, the prescriptions being taken from Dr. Gunn's medical work." Alphia's mother was shown a letter than had been published the previous week. "She destroyed her other letters. Dr. Houser proposed that she should come to West Branch to be treated, but the expense was too great. I heard her state no more in regard to her condition than I have already given. She said it was nearly five months since menses were suspended. She did not talk of death, only to say in conversing of the future, 'If she lived and was able, et.' In case of excitement she complained of a fluttering of the heart, which Dr. Houser told her was the effect of the disease. She said that Kimberlys got her round bottles of medicine and the syringe. Did not complain of any unpleasant symptoms after the use of the syringe, but thought it beneficial.

Dr. H. H. Maynard testified that an examination was done 23 days after Alphia's death. She had a slight contusion over her right eye. Her lower abdomen showed discoloration. She had excess fatty tissue. Her brain, spinal cord, brain, and heart were normal. Her lungs were congested. Her abdominal organs were generally normal. Her uterus was enlarged and contained a three-month male fetus. "The peritoneum was injected over the body of the womb, and the foetal membranes also bore an injected spot about one inch in diameter."

The coroner's jury declared that Alphia "came to her death by the use of medicines and applications and instruments prescribed, used and administered by Dr. J. T. Houser for the purpose of producing the miscarriage of the said deceased, she being then pregnant."

If Houser was prosecuted, he either was acquitted or got a light sentence because the 1880 census shows him living at home with his wife and children.

Sources:

• "The Coroner's Inquest," Tipton (IA) Advertiser, February 10, 1876
• Untitled, Waterloo (IA) Courier, February 16, 1876
• “Crooked Morals in Iowa,” The Chicago Tribune, February 17, 1876