Wonderful trial of Caroline Lohman, alias Restell : with speeches of counsel, charge of court, and verdict of jury : reported in full for the National police gazette.

  • Restell, Madame, 1811-1878.
Date:
[1847]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Wonderful trial of Caroline Lohman, alias Restell : with speeches of counsel, charge of court, and verdict of jury : reported in full for the National police gazette. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    are to decide upon the guilt or innocence of the accused, has not been mispent, since it has se- cured to her a jury which may emphatically be said to be one of her own selection, who will pa- tiently listen to the evidence in the cause, and who will pronounce their verdict with fearless and firm impartiality. To such a jury no caution is necessary; I have that confidence in your intelligence and integ- rity which asures me that while you will accord to the prisoner all the rights which the law guaranty to her, those of The People will be maintained with equal fidelity; the supremacy of the laws will be vindicated, and if the evi. deuce satisfies you (as I cannot doubt it will) of the guilt of this defendant, the community will no longer be cursed with one, who disgrac- ing her sex, forgeting that she is herself a moth- er, disregarding at once divine and human laws, has amassed a fortune in the daily perpetration of a crime which violates and annuls one of the most sacred ordinances of Almighty God. You will be told that you must discard from your minds all prejudices unfavorable to the prisoner growing out of the peculiar position she has held in this community. Useless precau- tion to men like you ! right minded men, who will never permit their abhorence of a crime to influence their decision as to the guilt or inno- cence of those who may be charged with its perpetration. The holiest spot in the Temple of Justice is the Jury box; sympathy, prejudice, or passion cannot enter it; ye are then withdrawn from the world and all its external influences, the stern, honest and inflexible ministers of Justice, whose decision the guilty alone await with terror and apprehension, but to whom innocence ever looks with confidence and never dying hope. The duty which devolves upon me in conduct- ing the prosecution of this cause is simply to narrate the facts, an investigation of which, by the Grand Inquest of the country, has resulted in placing Ann Lohman, otherwise known as Madame llestell, upon her trial, on a charge of manslaughter in the second degree, for having on the 19th of July, 1S46, produced an abortion on the body of Maria Budine, she being then pregnant with a quick child, and thereby produc- ing the death of such child. This indictment is founded upon the Act of the 4th of March, 1S46, having read which, I will state with as much brevity as perspicuity will permit, the facts which the prosecution wish to establish, by the most conclusive evidence, and upon which we shall ask you to pronounce this woman guilty. (Mr. Phillips then briefly presented the main facts in the case, which will be found in the re- ported testimony.) The heart sickens at such a narrative. Na- ture is appalled, that woman, the last and love- liest of her works, could so unsex herself, as to perpetrate such fiend-like enormities. The gardner watches, with jealous care, the seed he casts into the fertile earth, until it germs, and buds, and blooms, in the consum- mated perfection of nature's loveliness. But tliis defendant destroys the germ of nature.— she kills the unborn infant; endangers, if she does not destroy the mother's life, ruins her • health; and all for the sake of the base lucre, i which she allures the frail, or wicked, who have fallen, to pay her, in the vain hope that she cau aid them to conceal their shame. It is for you as jurors, husbands, fathers, and brothers, to say, whether these monstrous crimes are to con- tinue; whether God's laws, and those enacted for your society and protection, aTe to be violat- ed with impunity. The community look to you for a fearless, firm, and faithful discharge of your duty. Iu this behalf, the progress of this cause will be watched with intense and anxious interest by your fellow citizens. A sacred and important responsibility has devolved upon you, the sworn conservators of their peace aDd their security. The spirit of truth will guide and con- trol jour deliberations, and so directed, the re- sult will be such as your consciences can safely rest upon, and the public voice approve. The complainant, Maria Bodine, here came in- to Court with a feeble, tottering walk, and took her seat in the chair usually occupied by wit- nesses. She is a young woman, about 26 years of age, middling size, and evidently in a rapid decline of health. She was neatly dressed, and her appearance created much excitment and sympathy throughout the crowded court-room. On being called to be sworn, Mr. Brady, one of the counsel for the defence, objected to the competency of the witness, on the ground that she was an accomplice with Madame Restell, and, therefore, was not a competent witness. This objection was argued by Mr. Brady and- Mr. Graham. The prosecution declined reply- ing, and the Court decided that the witness was competent. This chief witness for prosecution was exam- ined, as follows, by J. B. Philips, Assistant Dis- trict Attorney:—Q. Where were you born, Maria ? A. In the town of Montgomery, Orange County. (The reply was given in so low and feeble a tone, and was so indistinctly heard, that the Court ordered all persons who wished to withdraw to retire at once, as they would have perfect silence.) Q. How old are you? A. Twenty-six years. Mr. Philips.—State to the Court and Jury whether you were ever pregnant, and what was done in the case, and by whom. Brady.—That line of interrogation will not answer. rhilip.t.— Q. Where were you living in April, 1845? A. In Orange County. Q. Do you know Mr. Cooke? A. Yes, sir. Q. When did you go to live with him, and in what capacity ? A. Two years ago, as housekeeper, at Walden.— Q. Had Mr. Cooke a wife? A. No. Q. Was he a single man, or a widower? A. A widoicer Q. When you were at Walden, at what time did the intercourse commence ? A- About one month after I went there. Q. How long did it continue ? A. It continued up to May one year ago. Q. In what situation did you then, or about that time, discover yourself? A. I found that I was pregnant—that I was in the family way. Q. How did you discover this? A.— (The witness blushing, and after much hesita- 'ion, replied.)—I found I had lost my monthly turns. Q. What else did you find or feel? A I was very sick, apt ;o vomit, my breasts be came larger, and were very painful. Q. Did you notice any peculiarity about your nipples.—