The Abortion Case!
Chenango Union, Norwich, NY, May 7, 1874
We last week gave a brief statement of the death of a young woman at the Chenango House, in this village [Norwich, Chenango Co. NY], by abortion. The facts came to our knowledge just as we were getting our paper to press, and we had no time to gather particulars. Since then, the atrocious character of the crime has created considerable excitement, and we have been able to collect most of the facts connected with the sad affair.
Joephine Le Clear was a resident of Manlius [Onondaga Co. NY], where her father and mother and two brothers and four sisters reside. Some months ago she worked in the Eagle Hotel in Hamilton [Madison Co. NY], where she became acquainted with John D Kelly, one of the proprietors, who, there can be no doubt, was her seducer. Kelly frequently visited her at her home after she left Hamilton and took her to entertainments at Utica and other places. This spring he removed to Oxford and on Friday, the 24th ult., came to Norwich and telegraphed to Josephine to meet him here at the Chenango House. She came on Saturday, and remained at the hotel until Monday morning, when she left the hotel for Hamilton. On the evening train she returned to Norwich and went back to the hotel, seeming to be in great agony. She must have suffered terribly during the night, for towards morning she left her room and wandered through the halls of the hotel, and finally knocked at the door of the room occupied by the landlord, Mr. Cox, asking to be admitted, and stating that she was dying. Early in the morning Dr. Wescott was summoned, and came to see her, but he having an engagement out of town, and being therefore unable to attend her, Dr. Smith was called in later in the day, and attended her until she died. Tuesday evening she was sinking rapidly, and Dr. Bellows was summoned in consultation. He found her in a dying condition and recommended that the attending physician should inform the coroner and have her ante-mortem statement taken. This was not done, and about five o'clock Wednesday morning the woman died. Kelly had been about the hotel during most of this time, and the girl had frequently sent for him to come to her bedside. As soon as she was pronounced dead, he ordered a coffin and shipped the body by express to Manlius, by the train that left at eight o'clock in the morning. We have it upon good authority that he tried to ship to coffin C.O.D., but upon the refusal of the express agent to accept it unless prepaid, finally paid the charges. The coffin was directed to Albert Le Clear, Manlius, and was not accompanied by any explanation. Kelly it is said went north on the train as far as North Norwich, where he got off and took the next train south. A warrant was issued for his arrest in the afternoon, but up to this time he has not been found. Much indignation has been expressed that the body should have been allowed to leave Norwich without an inquest, and Dr. Smith is censured for his failure to notify the coroner. He also furnished a certificate that she had not died of a contagious disease, without which the body would not have been taken upon the cars. Had he notified the coroner and had her statement taken, the guilty parties could easily have been brought to justice.
The following particulars of the arrival of the body at Manlius, and of the inquest held there, we take from the Syracuse Courier of Friday.
Sheriff Brown, of Norwich, as soon as he was notified of the mysteries surrounding the affair, commenced to work up the case. He had remembered seeing the young lady at the same hotel two months before, enquiring for this interested stranger, and having his suspicions aroused, he first endeavored to get authority to have the remains held at Norwich, in which effort he was unsuccessful as the wolf had got away with its prey, and he proceeded to do the next best thing, which was to take the landlord's affidavit as to the girl's confession, and procure warrants for the arrest of the guilty parties; after which he followed the aforesaid stranger and his lifeless victim to Earlville [Madison Co. NY], by the next train. At Earlville there was no rail connection, and he was obliged to get to Manlius by way of Utica and Syracuse. He took the early train from Syracuse yesterday morning and was at Earlville waiting for our Coroner on the arrival of the 11:15 train. The remains arrived at Manlius Wednesday forenoon, directed to a brother of the deceased, but there was no escort. They were at once taken to the house of the parents, which was the first intimation they had of the sad fate of their daughter. They then did not know the cause of her death, and she would doubtless have been buried without investigation, had not Sheriff Brown arrived as he did. The sheriff at once repaired to the house and acquainted them of the true facts. He took the 11:20 train for Norwich and is now in hot pursuit of the authors of this horrible outrage. He will not rest till they are capture, as they are well known to him. This is a clear resume of the case up to the arrival of the coroner and our reporter at Manlius.
The investigation, as above announced, took place at two o'clock, at the office of Judge A.H. Jerome, at Manlius; previous to which, a postmortem examination, by Dr. Charles Stowell, was held at the house of the deceased. We omitted to state that the coroner, on first viewing the remains, found the case a very bad one, and one indicating that the victim had been very foully dealt with. The appearance of the face was bloated, and of a very dark color. The left eye was badly swollen and bulged out about three quarter of an inch. The mouth was full of bloody fluid, which was oozing out and flowing down her face. The neck as well as the face and rest of the body was badly swollen and very much discolored.
Deputy Sheriff Henry Whitney of Manlius served subpoenas on the following prominent citizens of Manlius who composed the jury, and were sworn: David Hinsdale, foreman, Jas. H. Ransur, Elias Stillwater, Edgar Vrooman, Frederick Casler, Harmon Baker, F.H. Dewey and M.M. Thomas.
Dr. Charles Stowell was sworn, and testified as follows: I performed the post mortem examination on the deceased; found the body swollen, the abdomen was tympanitic; on opening the abdomen a large amount of gas escaped; found a normal condition of the intestines; the uterus enlarge and perforated at the fundus; the interior and upper part of the uterus was all broken down; the opening almost an inch in diameter; could discover nothing inside the uterus, the tissue was so broken down; the intestines were healthy; the womb enlarged.
Question: What is your opinion of the cause of death? It was done by some metalic instrument perforating the substance of the womb; done for the purpose of procuring abortion.
Albert Le Clear, brother of deceased, was sworn, and testified that his sister left home Saturday morning; that she was at home a week before; my other sister saw her go; the remains arrived here on morning train of Wednesday; the receipt shows that the corpse came by express from Norwich.
George Champlin, ticket agent at Manlius deport was sworn: He remembered selling deceased a ticket to Earlville, on Saturday, April 25th; had no conversation with her; she had bought a ticket once before for the same place; there was a doctor's certificate attached to the way bill accompanying the remains; the box was addressed to Albert Le Clear, Manlius; charges and all expenses were all prepaid; there was nothing to show as to who had ordered them sent.
Richard Clemens was sworn: I have known deceased some two years; I was requested to take the measure of the box and dig the grave; I opened the box; it was directed to Albert Le Clear; the body in the box was Josephine Le Clear.
The coroner deemed the above sufficient testimony to find a proper and true verdict; they could not prove who committed the deed, but they could find what produced it. Accordingly the room was cleared of the spectators and after a few moments' deliberation, the jury agreed upon the following verdict:
"Miss Josephine Le Clear came to her death by inflammation of the womb caused by injuries received from some instrument while an abortion was being produced."
Thus the case is probably ended so far as Onondaga County can prosecute it. When the parties implicated are arrested, the Madison County authorities will see to it that a thorough trial shall be granted, and a full mead of justice dealt out.
If appears that the girl died about eight o'clock Wednesday morning, was hurried into a coffin, partially laid out, and the remains hustled quickly to the depot for the ten o'clock train. The interested stranger who was so officious in all this, and who is well known, stated that he would accompany the corpse, and did as far as Earlville, but eluded his pursuers at that point. The doctor who signed the certificate did no because he supposed the above party would see them to their destination.
The doctor who is charged with having committed the abortion is a resident practitioner of Hamilton, Madison County [NY]. His reputation is none the best, and he has boasted that he could do those things up very neatly. But the investigation proves that the job was a decided inhumanly bungling one, the marks of violence being shocking to the sight of the beholder. The party who is charged with seduction is a former landlord of Hamilton. He has kept company with the girl for nearly a year, and according to the deceased's statement they were to be married this spring.
He had called upon her at her house and had taken her to Utica to entertainments; had many times been out riding with her; that his victim was once in his employ, when their acquaintance first began, he became enamored of her prepossessing appearance; this acquaintance ripened into intimacy, and then from intimacy to criminality.
The parents of the deceased are poor but worthy people, and the family is composed of father, mother, two brothers and four sisters.
Josie was about twenty-four years of age, and she, with another sister, were the "main-stay" of the family. Josie was well liked wherever she had worked, and considered as pure and honest as she was handsome and modest; the seducer was recommended to her as a nice young man. She had repeatedly told her sister that she was engaged to him. She purchased her wedding dress last Christmas, and had made it up, and wore part of the suit last Saturday; she never kept company with any other young man in her life; she had been employed in several first-class families of Manlius and elsewhere and was esteemed as a young lady of good principle. She was temporarily employed at the St. John's School; left word there that she was going to Norwich to collect some money owing her, and to act as a witness in a suit. She had been successful in hiding her condition from her parents and friends, and they were without a particle of suspicion that anything was wrong.
On the affidavit of Mr. Cox, the landlord of the Chenango House, who swore that the girl told him who had performed the operation, a warrant was issued by Justice Gunn for Dr. Peter B. Havens, of Hamilton, and he was arrested a brought to this village on Monday. District Attorney Tefft and George W. Ray, Esq., examined the witnesses on the part of the people and Isaac S. Newton, Esq. of Norwich and G. Wellington, Esq. of Hamilton, appeared for the prisoner.
The first witness was Dr. Smith, who testified that she had been operated upon with instruments, and that she had been terribly lacerated. Death had result from the injuries inflicted by the person who performed the operation. The Doctor's testimony was lengthy but treated almost entirely of the physical condition she was in while under his charge. He also testified that she informed him that the operation was performed about four o'clock on Monday afternoon.
Norman Cox was the next witness sworn. His testimony related to her appearance at his hotel on Saturday; that she left on Monday morning and returned on the evening of the same day, in a suffering condition. Witness also testified that Josephine Le Clear told him that the operation was performed by Dr. Havens of Hamilton. Being questioned in regard to telegrams sent by Kelly to Dr. Havens on Tuesday, it was admitted by the defense that dispatches did pass between Kelly and Dr. Havens on that day. The dispatches were produced and marked, but not read.
Sheriff Brown received a dispatch on Tuesday, telling him to subpoena Mrs. Mary M. Baker, of the town of Lebanon, Madison County [NY], who could give important testimony. She was accordingly sent for and sworn on Tuesday afternoon. She testified to being in Hamilton on Monday of last week, in the sitting room of the Eagle Hotel. She there saw a young woman answering the description of Josephine Le Clear. While sitting there a man came in and tapped the young woman on the shoulder, and asked her if she was ready. The reply was in the affirmative. Immediately afterward another man came in who addressed the first comer as doctor. Witness testified that she did not know Dr. Havens, but upon being requested to look around the court room and see if she could recognize the man she had seen in Hamilton, she easily picked out and identified Dr. Havens. She heard but few words in the sitting room of the hotel, but enough to show that there was something to be done. In a few moments the man who came in last went out again, and witness also left the room.
This is the substance of the testimony thus far taken, but we understand that other important witnesses are to be examined. The investigation is to be made searching. We are informed that the excitement in Manlius is at fever heat, for the girl was well like, and it is believed by all that she was seduced under promise of marriage, and really believed that Kelly would marry her. Why the authorities of Onondaga County haven't taken more interest in the affair, excites some wonder. the inquest held by the coroner of that county barely elicited the manner of her death but was not conducted with a view to trace out the criminals. Had it been continued and made searching, much information could have been obtained.
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