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Sunday, September 29, 2024

September 29, 1915: Jilted Teen Procures Fatal Abortion

Rosalla Marie Rockhill, age 19, of Etna Green, Indiana, died September 29, 1915 at Ravenswood Hospital in Chicago from an abortion. Rosalla went by her middle name, so news coverage identifies her as Marie.

She was a popular young woman at the tiny town of 1,000. Marie was a clerk at the post office and secretary of the Sunday School at the Methodist Episcopal church, a senior at the tiny town's red brick schoolhouse. She attended church regularly with her parents, Warren and Lena, and her three siblings.

The October 7, 1915 Bremen Enquirer described the situation as "a singularly sad story."  The reporter lamented that "the young man said to be responsible for the girl's shame is the son of respected parents long residents of this community, whose grey heads are bowed in shame because of his conduct." The parents reportedly raised him better than to get a girl pregnant and abandon her.

The young man in question was 27-year-old Wilbur Swank. He and Marie were engaged and had set a wedding date for August 10. It was postponed until September 9. But the morning of her wedding day, Marie "learned by telephone that her promised husband had left home the night before secretly, leaving no word for her, and realized that she must meet her approaching shame alone or in some manner escape it," said the Bremen Enquirer

Wilbur's reason for taking off was, he said, because in all of his travels he had already married another woman and had not obtained a divorce. 

At some point Marie told her mother about the pregnancy, insisting that she had not consented to sex with her betrothed. "Mamma, after I ate the candy he gave me I was helpless." 

Lena later admitted that upon learning that Wilbur had jilted the girl, they went to Chicago looking for an abortionist. They walked around the city, Lena said, and saw a sign in a window reading "Midwife." They consulted with the woman there and arranged for the abortion. Marie remained at the midwife's practice while Lena returned to Etna Green.

Marie sickened during her stay. On September 22 she went into convulsions and was admitted to Ravenswood Hospital. Warren and Lena were summoned to the hospital and were there for her death a week later. 

The bereaved couple returned home with their daughter's body for the funeral and burial. Nearly the entire town greeted them at the train station. A large crowd attended the funeral. The Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel said, "Practically every business house in the town was closed during the services out of respect for the little secretary of the church. She was buried in the private cemetery on her family's farm.

While the townsfolk turned out to support the dead teenager, they held no cordial feelings towards Wilbur Swank. 


Watch Tiny Town Mourns Jilted Teen on YouTube.

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