June 5, 1914: "Peculiar Circumstances" in Astoria, New York

On June 5, 1914, 28-year-old homemaker Mary Kenny Schloendorn of Astoria, New York, died at her home "under peculiar circumstances." The coroner investigated and discovered that Mary had died from septicemia and general peritonitis from a ruptured uterus during an abortion. By questioning Mary's family and friends, the coroner concluded that the abortion had been perpetrated by a midwife. Marry had wed her husband, Harry, in 1906. (Sources: New York Index to Death Certificates, New York Extracted Marriage Index)

On June 5, 1915, 25-year-old homemaker Mary Balcznska died at Chicago's St. Bernard's Hospital from an abortion perpetrated by midwife Veronika Rypczyski who was arrested and held by the Coroner on June 10. The case never went to trial. (Source: Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database)

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