A 19th Century Trunk Mystery and Other Criminal Abortion Deaths

A Doctor's Work in 1948

Mildred Ferguson, age 23, of Narrows, West Virginia, died in Huntington, West Virginia on February 25, 1948 from abortion complications.

After a four-day trial and only 23 minutes of jury deliberation, Dr. William M. Lewis, age 61, was convicted of second degree murder. His assistant, 29-year-old Julia Darling, was charged with falsely swearing on an affidavit, illegally administering anesthetic, and murder by abortion.

Self-Induced in 1918

On February 25, 1918, 34-year-old homemaker Mary Mayer died at Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh. The coroner found that she had died of septicemia following a self-induced abortion.

One of Dr. Hobbs' Victims in 1916

Dr. Lillian Hobbs (pictured) was convicted of murder in the 1916 abortion death of 21-year-old Alda Christopherson. The testimony of John K. McDonald, who was granted immunity in exchange, was crucial in the case. He was the father of Alda's aborted baby. Depending on whose testimony you believe, the whole sordid story began either on February 21, or six weeks earlier. All testimony agreed that Alda and John had visited Hobbs' practice. John insisted that Hobbs had perpetrated the fatal abortion. Hobbs, a known abortionist, insisted that she'd merely been treating Alda for complications of an abortion she'd attempted to perform on herself with a button hook.  Between Alda's death and the trial, Hobbs had been indicted for the 1917 abortion death of Ellen Matson. The jury evidently thought that Hobbs' story didn't hold water, since they found her guilty and she was sentenced to 14 years in prison. She appealed, protesting that it was inappropriate to bring up the death of Ellen Matson as evidence of her practice as a criminal abortionist, since Ellen died nearly two years after Alda's death and thus her abortion wasn't evidence of prior criminal behavior. The appeal succeeded. The conviction was overturned and a new trial ordered. However, Hobbs' conviction and sentencing for Ellen Matson's death rendered this rather a moot point. Hobbs was also implicated, but never tried, for the 1917 abortion death of Ruth Lemaire.

A Trunk Mystery in 1879

Jennie Clark's body was found stuffed into a trunk in Lynn, Massachusetts on February 27, 1879. The trunk, lodged in shallow, icy water, was weighted down with several bricks and two empty champagne bottles. Dr. Caroline C. Goodrich, a Boston woman, was arrested as the abortionist. Dr. Daniel F. Kimball, who lived in the same house, was arrested as an accessory. Mr. Allen N. Adams, at whose house Jennie lived and worked as a servant, was arrested as secondary accessory, as were a mother and daughter living in  the house where Jennie had died. Adams was said to be the person who arranged the fatal abortion. An investigation indicated that on February 12, 1879, Jennie left her home in the Highlands. She was seen shortly thereafter going into the home of Dr. Goodrich. The abortion was evidently perpetrated at Goodrich's practice. Jennie left on February 15 and went to the home where the mother and daughter cared for her. She  delivered her dead fetus and seemed to be on the mend. She took a sudden turn for the worse and died on February 25. The guilty parties packed up the body into the trunk and dumped it.

*****

Mary Mayer death certificate

A Pair of Chicago Midwives, a Doctor in Denver, and a Doctor in New York

Scant Info on Chicago Abortion

On February 20, 1927, 23-year-old Angenita Hargarten died in her Chicago home from an abortion performed there that day. Midwives Anna Trezek and Frances Raz were held by the coroner, Trezek as the principal and Raz as her accomplice.


Travel Plans Lead to Fatal Abortion

Ada Williams, about 27 years old, was living in Denver in early 1916 when she got a letter from her mother in Nebraska. Nearly 50, Ada's mother was going to give birth soon and feared that she might die in childbirth, so she asked Ada to come to her.

Dr. Hamilton

Ada, pregnant herself, decided to have an abortion before she left in order to facilitate the journey. With her husband, Thomas, she went to Dr. Noble O. Hamilton on Sunday, February 13, asking about proceeding with the abortion Ada had already discussed with him. Hamilton told her to return the following day, and told Thomas to bring $25, which was how much he charged for delivering a baby and seemed to be a fair amount to charge for aborting one.

Ada returned as instructed at about 9:40 in the morning. Hamilton later admitted that he examined Ada, including a vaginal exam, and inserted a medicated tampon, but denied that he had performed any abortion.

On Tuesday morning, Thomas stopped by Hamilton's office on the way to work and paid $10 toward the abortion. After Thomas had gone, Ada got up and went to visit a friend, who later reported that she seemed ill.

Wednesday came and Ada stayed in bed, where she labored and delivered a dead three-month fetus. She sent for Hamilton, who wrapped the dead baby in paper and burned it in the stove. He gave aftercare instructions and left.

On Thursday, Ada was showing signs of going septic. Hamilton diagnosed her as having typhoid fever. The next day he brought in a Dr. Gundrum to consult about the typhoid diagnosis but said nothing about the abortion, not even to claim that Ada had miscarried.

Dr. Monson came to check on Ada on Friday and found her in grave condition. Hamilton still tried to keep the abortion a secret but Monson managed to ferret out the information from Ada somehow. He admitted Ada to a hospital, where she died of sepsis the evening of Sunday, February 20.

When convicted and sentenced to ten to eleven years, Hamilton swore his innocence. The verdict in the Ada Williams case was upheld on appeal.
 
An Inadequately Documented Deathbed Statement

An inquest was held in the February 20, 1856 death of Catharine DeBreuxal.

A witness testified that Catharine suffered "a violent hemorrhage" at Dr. Cobel's house in New York, where she had remained for a few days. The medical examiner concluded that Catharine had died from an infection.

"An effort was made by the defense to show that the deceased was a woman's bad character; but the evidence on that point was not admitted on account of its irrelevance."

The coroner's jury called for the arrest of Cobel, as well as of Francis Legoupil, as an accessory.  Cobel had been permitted to confront Catherine on her deathbed, challenging her and asking whey she had named him as her abortionist. She replied, "Because you operated on me."

Cobel was acquitted in April because Catharine's deposition was not taken formally before her death, and there was no further evidence that Cobel was the guilty party. He remained free to be charged with additional abortion deaths: the 1858 death of Amelia Weber, the 1865 death of Emma Wolfer, the 1870 death of Catherine Shields, and the 1875 death of Antoinette Fennor.

Deaths 80 years apart

Failure to Diagnose Leads to Death

Magnolia Thomas was a 35-year-old mother of two when she went to Hedd Surgi-Center in Chicago for a safe, legal abortion performed by Rudolph Moragne on February 19, 1986. Moragne failed to note that the fetus was growing in Magnolia's fallopian tube, rather than in her uterus. After Magnolia was discharged from the clinic, the undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy ruptured, and Magnolia was rushed to the hospital. There, doctors did everything they could to save her, but she died from blood loss and shock on February 19, 1986.

This was Magnolia's third abortion. Multiple abortions are a known risk factor for ectopic pregnancy. Even though, in theory, women who choose abortion should be less likely to die of ectopic pregnancy complications, experiences shows that they're actually //more// likely to die, due to sloppy practices by abortion practitioners.

Another patient, Diane Watson, died of anesthesia compliations after she'd undergone a safe, legal abortion by Moragne at Hedd.


A Midwife's Fatal Work

Ida Prochnow, a 35-year-old German-born homemaker, died in St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Chicago on February 19, 1906, from septicemia caused by an abortion performed earlier that day. Midwife Maggie or Madaline Motgna was arrested in the death.

Illegal Abortions: Doctors at Work

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Injured While Her Abortionist Was Awaiting Trial

On February 18, 1916, Beulah Hatch, age 24, died at Mercy Hospital in Denver. Dr. Bennett Graff, already out on bond while awaiting trial for the February 2 abortion death of Ruth Camp, was believed to have perpetrated the abortion that likely killed Beulah. Both women, in fact, were in Mercy Hospital at the same time, which means that Beulah's abortion must have been perpetrated prior to Ruth's death.

Beulah had gone to Denver about six weeks prior to her death, installing herself in a rooming house and then entering Graff's care. He had her removed to the Panama rooming house, where he had offices. She remained there at the rooming house until her condition deteriorated to the point where somebody sent for her husband. Mr. Hatch summoned the family physician, Dr. Andrews, who came to Denver from Longmont. He examined Beulah and had her transferred to the hospital. Once she was there, Andrews transferred her to the care of a local physician, T. Mitchell Burns, who attended her until her death.

The Physician-Fiance

Kittie O'Toole

At about 2:00 p.m. on February 18, 1883, 28-year-old Irish immigrant Kittie O'Toole died at the office of Dr. C. H. Orton, her betrothed, in Milwaukee.

Orton attributed Kittie's death to an epileptic seizure. Orton's neighbors, however, found the death suspicious and demanded an investigation.

The coroner's jury found Orton culpable for two murders -- of Kittie and of her unborn baby -- for having perpetrated a fatal abortion.

Orton, a widower more than 60 years of age, was a prominent politician and a doctor of longstanding in the community, which makes it interesting that in late April a municipal court judge suddenly dismissed all of the charges against Orton.

Deaths in the First Third of the 20th Century

One of Six Clustered Victims of Dr. Guy E. Brewer


Dr. Guy E. Brewer

Ruby Ford, a 26-year-old homemaker, died on April 1, 1934, 11 days after an abortion committed on March 20 "at the combination bachelor dwelling and office" of Dr. Guy E. Brewer, a beloved philanthropist in the small town of Graber, Oklahoma. So popular was Brewer that the husband of one of his six abortion victims was fired from his job in retaliation for reporting the death to the police.

Brewer had graduated from the University of Louisville in 1906 and had been practicing medicine in Garber for 21 of the 29 years he had been a physician. He supported young men during their university studies, maintaining houses for them to live in. Those he had educated over the years rushed immediately to his defense. Though Brewer had spent many long years helping boys and young men, his impact on women's lives was evidently lightning-fast.

Hermoine Fowler, a 20-year-old coed, died in June of 1934, nine days after an abortion perpetrated by Brewer. Doris Jones, a 20-year-old mother of two, died in April of 1935. Wanda Lee Gray, age 20, Myrtle Rose, age 21, and Elizabeth Shaw, 23, of Roxanna.

Brewer entered guilty pleas and was sentenced to six four-year sentences, to run concurrently, for the six abortion deaths.


A Death and a Pardon

On March 29, 1921, 57-year-old Dr. Simeon B. Minden performed an abortion in his New York City office on 32-year-old Mrs. Catherine Riga. Catherine died three days later at Lincoln Hospital. It took only two days for his trial, which ended in a conviction. Minden collapsed upon hearing the verdict.  Minden was granted a new trial on May 18, 1922, and was pardoned by the governor after serving one year and four months of a 2.5 to 10-year sentence in Sing-Sing on December 12, 1924.

A Midwife Suspected

On April 1, 1911, 23-year-old Chicago homemaker Annie Murphy died from an abortion perpetrated by a midwife (or possibly obstetrician) named Carolina Adams. Adams, age about 63, was held by the Coroner's Jury but the case never went to trial.


A Grim Delivery

On the morning of April 1, 1904, a body was hastily shipped from Old Orchard Sanitarium, aka Eastman's Women Sanitarium, run by Dr. Charles A Eastman. A death certificate was filed in the town clerk's office by Eastman stating that the deceased was 24-year-old Edith McIntyre, a schoolteacher from Boothbay Harbor, Maine. She had died at the sanitarium at 3:00 that morning. The body, Eastman said, had been shipped on the early train of that day to Boothbay Harbor in charge of Edith's brother, Capt. Albert McIntyre. The cause of the death was given as gastritis resulting from the taking of oxalic acid salts by the deceased sometime in February. Edith had been at the sanitarium for two weeks.

This all seemed a tad fishy, so the case was quickly referred to county attorney George L Emery, who examined the documents then hurried off to Boothbay Harbor to speak with Edith's brother. Emery learned that Edith had been buried early on Saturday, April 2, and that no viewing of the body by family or friends had been permitted. Edith's body was exhumed for an autopsy, which revealed that she had died from a criminal abortion.

Eastman, realizing that the authorities were on to him, fled his sanitarium by the time Emery got back to question him.  Eastman was traced to Lowell, MA, where he was arrested. He was arraigned on a murder charge, to which he plead not guilty.

The prosecution presented evidence that Eastman had performed an abortion on Edith some time in March, and that she developed septicemia and died as a result. Eastman's defense argued that Edith had just miscarried and died from a bad gastric reaction to the oxalic acid salts she had been taken. Since oxalic acid is a toxin found naturally occurring in many plants, Eastman seemed to be arguing that Edith had taken the salts as a self-abortion attempt in February, prior to coming to his sanitarium.

John Morrill, who had arrested Eastman, presented letters written by Eastman to his wife while he was a fugitive, along with letters from Edith's brother. Expert testimony was presented by two doctors, Alfred King of Portland and George Gregory of Boothbay Harbor.

On July 12, the jury returned a verdict of guilty of manslaughter.

Doctors' Fatal Work, 1930 and 1931

Chicago, 1930

Mamie Ethel Crowell, age 20, died on April 14, 1930, in the office of Dr. Hans Paulsen, from an abortion performed on her that day. Two days later, Paulsen was booked for manslaughter by abortion. The father of the baby, Uriah Denniston, was booked as accessory. Paulson was held by the Coroner for murder by abortion. Denniston wasn't mentioned in the verdict. On September 1, the indictment was quashed. The source notes "Circumstances suggesting judicial corruption."

Oklahoma City, 1932

Thacker

On April 14, 1932, 21-year-old Isabelle Ferguson died of suspected abortion complications. Two physicians in the University of Oklahoma area, J. W. Eisiminger andRichard E. Thacker, were suspected in the case.

Thacker and Eisiminger were not ordinary doctors who just did abortions on a few patients. They were abortionists, and quack abortionists at that. Singly or as a pair they were implicated in a string of deaths:

February 26, 1929: Marie Epperson
March 19, 1932: Geraldine Easley
April 3, 1932: Ethel Hestland
April 14, 1932: Isabelle Ferguson
April 15, 1932, Ruth Hall
c. April 19, 1932: Robbie Lou Thompson 
April 24, 1932: Virginia Lee Wyckoff (Eisiminger) and Lennis May Roach 
April 25, 1932: Nancy Joe Lee 

Geraldine Easley, age 19, died on March 19, 1932 in Oklahoma City after admitting to an abortion. Thacker and Eisiminger were both suspected, since they had been implicated in so many other abortion deaths. 

Thacker was sentenced to life in prison for Ruth Hall's death. His attorney announced an immediate motion for an appeal, on the grounds that Thacker's other abortions should not have been admitted as testimony.[3]

The Second of Three Deaths at the Hands of Dr. George Fosberg

Fosberg at age 79

On December 4, 1916, 23-year-old Pauline Hill died at Chicago's Post Graduate Hospital from complications of an abortion. She made a deathbed statement that Dr. George E. Fosberg had perpetrated the abortion at his office on November 27.

Pauline, who had been married about a year, had confessed the abortion to her husband before implicating Fosberg.

Even though Fosberg had a history of abortion allegations, including admitting to having perpetrated a fatal abortion on Mrs. John Orme in 1906, the case regarding Pauline's death never went to trial. Fosberg was sent to prison for bank fraud and lost his license. Upon his release, he opened a boarding home where he perpetrated a fatal abortion on Geraldine Schuyler in 1944.