18 tiny deaths, p.27
18 Tiny Deaths, page 27
1Lee unable to attend seminar due to heart attack: Letter from FGL to ARM, August 10, 1944, CHM.
2“Men are dubious of”: Pete Martin, “How Murderers Beat the Law,” Saturday Evening Post, December 10, 1949.
3“The models are none”: Letter from FGL to ARM, August 10, 1944, CHM.
4“Resolved that Mrs. Frances G. Lee”: Resolution enclosed in letter from ARM to FGL, October 6, 1944, CHM.
5One in five deaths are sudden: About 10 percent of deaths are due to violence or unnatural causes, and about 10 percent of deaths are due to unknown or obscure causes that require inquiry. Committee on Medicolegal Problems, “Medical Science in Crime Detection,” Journal of the American Medical Association 200, no. 2 (April 10, 1967): 155–160.
6The earliest methodical inquiries: Sources for historical descriptions of coroners include Jeffrey Jentzen, Death Investigation in America: Coroners, Medical Examiners and the Pursuit of Medical Certainty (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009), and Russell S. Fisher, “History of Forensic Pathology and Related Laboratory Sciences,” in Medicolegal Investigation of Death, 2nd ed., ed. Werner U. Spitz and Russell S. Fisher (Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 1980).
7Coroners are responsible for answering two questions: Theodore Tyndale, “The Law of Coroners,” Boston Medical and Surgical Journal 96 (1877): 243–258.
8One of the earliest American inquests: Portions of this section are drawn from Bruce Goldfarb, “Death Investigation in Maryland,” in The History of the National Association of Medical Examiners, 2016 ed., 235–264, https://www.thename.org/assets/docs/NAME%20e-book%202016%20final%2006-14-16.pdf. Other sources include Julie Johnson-McGrath, “Speaking for the Dead: Forensic Pathologists and Criminal Justice in the United States,” Science, Technology, and Human Values 20, no. 4 (October 1, 1995): 438–459; Michael Clark and Catherine Crawford, eds., Legal Medicine in History (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994); Jentzen, Death Investigation in America; Fisher, “History of Forensic Pathology.”
9Thomas Baldridge’s instructions: William G. Eckert, ed., Introduction to Forensic Sciences, 2nd ed. (New York: Elsevier, 1992), 12.
10“Upon notice or suspicion”: Aric W. Dutelle and Ronald F. Becker, Criminal Investigation, 5th ed. (Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2013), 8.
11Baldridge inquest: J. Hall Pleasants, ed., Proceedings of the County Court of Charles County, 1658–1666, Archives of Maryland 1936, xl–xli; “An inquest taken before the Coroner, at mattapient in the county of St maries, on Wednesday the 31. Of January 1637,” USGenWeb Archive, http://files.usgwarchives.net/md/stmarys/wills/briant-j.txt.
12Earliest known forensic autopsy in America: “Early medicine in Maryland, 1636–1671,” Journal of the American Medical Association 38, no. 25 (June 21, 1902): 1639; “Judicial and Testamentary Business of the Provincial Court, 1637–1650,” Maryland State Archives, vol. 4: 254.
13The deficiencies of the coroner system: Julie Johnson, “Coroners, Corruption and the Politics of Death: Forensic Pathology in the United States,” in Clark and Crawford, Legal Medicine in History, 268–289.
14Nonsensical causes of death: Raymond Moley, An Outline of the Cleveland Crime Survey (Cleveland: Cleveland Foundation, 1922).
15Leonard Wallstein’s report: Leonard Michael Wallstein, Report on Special Examination of the Accounts and Methods of the Office of Coroner in New York City (New York: Office of the Commissioner of Accounts, 1915).
16“Outrageous crooks who dispensed”: Jentzen, Death Investigation in America, 25.
17Cleveland Police Department’s eight-week course: Raymond Fosdick, “Part I: Police Administration,” Criminal Justice in Cleveland (Cleveland: Cleveland Foundation, 1922), 34–35.
18“These detectives are supposed”: Moley, Cleveland Crime Survey, 8.
19“Suffolk County had more coroners”: James C. Mohr, Doctors and the Law: Medical Jurisprudence in Ninteenth-Century America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), 214.
20“You have in the coroner”: Tyndale, “Law of Coroners,” 246.
21The scandal that precipitated the end of the coroner system: Martin, “How Murderers Beat the Law.”
22Chicago Police Department: “History,” Chicago Police Department, accessed April 20, 2018, https://home.chicagopolice.org/inside-the-cpd/history/; on Orsemus Morrison, see A History of the City of Chicago: Its Men and Institutions (Chicago: Inter Ocean, 1900), 440–441.
23The first death Morrison investigated: Richard L. Lindberg, Gangland Chicago: Criminality and Lawlessness in the Windy City (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015), 3–5.
24John Jacob Glessner in Springfield: Timothy B. Spears, Chicago Dreaming: Midwesterners and the City, 1871–1919 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005), 24–50.
25Isaac Scott: Percy Maxim Lee and John Glessner Lee, Family Reunion: An Incomplete Account of the Maxim-Lee Family History (privately printed, 1971), 354; David A. Hanks, Isaac Scott: Reform Furniture in Chicago (Chicago: Chicago School of Architecture Foundation, 1974).
2: The Sunny Street of the Sifted Few
1After a two-day train ride: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 348.
2“Aunt Helen made the move”: Frances Macbeth Glessner Journal, Glessner Family Papers, GHM (hereinafter cited as Journal), July 22, 1878.
3Twin Mountain House: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 348.
4Henry Ward Beecher: Robert Shaplen, “The Beecher-Tilton Affair,” New Yorker, June 4, 1954, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1954/06/12/thew-beecher-tilton-case-ii.
5“He took a fancy”: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 350.
6“My dear, a summer”: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 350.
7“One of the finest”: Journal, July 29, 1883.
8Buildings at The Rocks: For information about The Rocks, see A Historical Walk Through John and Frances Glessner’s Rocks Estate (undated booklet); “Heritage and History,” The Rocks Estate, accessed September 14, 2018, http://www.therocks.mobi/about.html.
9Frances Glessner invited local residents to visit: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 357–358.
10“One day, a mountain wagon” and following quotes: Journal, 356–357.
11Prairie Avenue, Chicago: William H. Tyre, Chicago’s Historic Prairie Avenue (Chicago, IL: Arcadia Books, 2008).
12Glessner wanted an architect of note: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 327–330.
13Henry Hobson Richardson: Finn MacLeod, “Spotlight: Henry Hobson Richardson,” ArchDaily, September 29, 2017, https://www.archdaily.com/552221/spotlight-henry-hobson-richardson.
14“I’ll plan anything a man wants” and following quotes: Journal, 327.
15Frances’s description of Richardson: Journal, May 15, 1885.
16Description of the Glessner home: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 322.
17Reactions to the Glessners’ new home: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, “House Remarks,” May 1887, 340.
18“Prairie Ave. is a”: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 338.
19H. H. Richardson’s death: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 329.
20“The house responds”: Family Reunion, 326.
21The orchestra and special occasions: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 326.
22“Cannabis indicie (Indian hemp)”: Journal, May 11, 1884.
23The Monday Morning Reading Class: Genevieve Leach, “The Monday Morning Reading Class,” Story of a House (blog), August 4, 2016, https://www.glessnerhouse.org/story-of-a-house/2016/8/4/the-monday-morning-reading-class; Genevieve Leach, “The Monday Morning Reading Class, Part 2,” Story of a House (blog), August 14, 2016, https://www.glessnerhouse.org/story-of-a-house/2016/8/14/the-monday-morning-reading-class-part-2.
24“The ladies’ fingers were”: John Jacob Glessner, The Story of a House (privately printed, 1923).
25Invitation to the Monday Morning Reading Class: Judith Cass, “Monday Class in Reading to Hold Reunion,” Chicago Tribune, April 2, 1936.
26“The nervous strain of school”: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 325.
27“Over the thresholds”: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 325.
28“Rendezvous for George’s friends”: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 326.
29“Never shall I forget”: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 349, 351.
30“Does not make up easily with strangers”: Journal, July 26, 1885.
31Evening entertainments: William Tyre, “Tableaux Vivants,” Story of a House (blog), September 1, 2014, https://www.glesserhouse.org/story-of-a-house/2014/09/tableaux-vivants.html.
32“We have been most”: Journal, July 27, 1884.
33“He said there was”: Journal, May 15, 1887.
34“D is for Doctor Lincoln”: Journal, July 3, 1887.
35Fanny began to accompany local doctors: FGL, manuscript written for Yankee Yarns radio show, 1946, GHM.
36“But cooking and surgery”: FGL, Yankee Yarns manuscript.
37“I am unmarried and”: Harvard College Class of 1894 Secretary’s Report, 1909, 172–173.
38“Yes, he’s a bachelor”: C. A. G. Jackson, “Here He Is! The Busiest Man in the City,” Sunday Herald, March 4, 1917.
39Fanny rode the Ferris wheel: Journal, June 25, 1893.
40Material about the Glessners at the 1893 World’s Fair is based on various passages from the Journal during 1893.
41Anthropometry: Oliver Cyriax, Colin Wilson, and Damon Wilson, Encyclopedia of Crime (New York: Overlook Press, 2006), 14–15.
42For a thorough and compelling account of H. H. Holmes, see Erik Larson, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America (New York: Vintage Books, 2003).
43“Before summer was out”: Harvard College Class of 1894 Secretary’s Report, 1897.
44“On Wednesday, Frances was”: Journal, March 29, 1896.
45Stephen Dill Lee: “About Stephen D. Lee,” Stephen D. Lee Institute, http://www.stephendleeinstitute.com/about-sd-lee.html.
46Asa Candler: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 255.
47Women in medicine in the late 1800s: “A Timeline of Women at Hopkins,” Johns Hopkins Magazine, accessed April 6, 2019, https://pages.jh.edu/jhumag/1107web/women2.html.
48Sarah Hackett Stevenson: William Tyre, “Mrs. Ashton Dilke visits the Glessner house,” Story of a House (blog), February 18, 2013, https://www.glessnerhouse.org/story-of-a-house/2013/02/mrs-ashton-dilke-visits-glessner-house-html.
49Wedding section is from Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 391–394.
50“Then they—the two”: Family Reunion, 394.
3: Marriage and the Aftermath
1The newlywed couple: Much of this section is drawn from Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 258.
2The Metropole Hotel: “The Metropole Hotel,” My Al Capone Museum, accessed September 27, 2018, http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id224.htm.
3Friction in the marriage: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 259–263.
4“The Doctor said several”: Journal, December 11, 1898.
5“She has been quite”: Journal, December 11, 1898.
6“Extremely outspoken and partisan”: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 260.
7Gifts of stock: Journal, December 27, 1903.
8Iroquois Theater Fire: Bob Specter, “The Iroquois Theater Fire,” Chicago Tribune, December 19, 2007, https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nation-world/politics/chi-chicagodays-iroquoisfire-story-story.html.
9“It has all been”: Journal, January 4, 1904.
10George Glessner went to the theater: Journal, January 4, 1904.
11John’s lymph glands: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 403–404.
12“I can remember eating”: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 404.
13“Once she undertook to”: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 404.
14Miniature orchestra: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 398.
15“New Years was Frances’ birthday”: Journal, January 5, 1913.
16“Every member of the organization”: Journal, January 19, 1913.
17The Flonzaley Quartet: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 398–401.
18“An unhappy time for all”: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 404.
19Candy making: Lee and Lee, Family Reunion, 403.
20“Particularly notable for being”: Chicago Daily Tribune, July 21, 1915, 15.
21Detailed notes on visitors: Based on review of correspondence and records at GHM.
22“Dear Mother Lee”: Letter from George Wise to FGL, July 17, 1918, GHM.
23Finger Tip Theater: William Tyre, “Chicago’s Tiniest Theater,” Story of a House (blog), June 22, 2015, GHM, http://glessnerhouse.blogspot.com/2015/06/chicagos-tiniest-theater.html.
24“The auditorium will seat”: “Hop o’ My Thumb Actors Delight at Finger Tip Theater,” Chicago Daily Tribune, March 20, 1918, 15.
25“If one has an imagination”: Tyre, “Chicago’s Tiniest Theater.”
26“There seemed to be”: “Hop o’ My Thumb.”
27“I am glad to”: FGL, letter to the editor, Chicago Tribune, March 30, 1918.
28“I didn’t do a lick”: Martin, “How Murderers Beat the Law.”
29“All this time”: FGL, Yankee Yarns manuscript.
30“Said au revoirs to”: Chicago Tribune, November 15, 1918.
31“Writing to the Monday Morning”: Siobhan Heraty, “Frances Glessner Lee and World War I,” Story of a House (blog), December 15, 2014, GHM, https://www.glessnerhouse.org/story-of-a-house/2014/12/frances-glessner-lee-and-world-war-i.html.
4: The Crime Doctor
1“Dead bodies of such persons”: George Burgess Magrath, “The Technique of a Medico-Legal Investigation,” Meeting of the Massachusetts Medico-Legal Society, February 1, 1922.
2“We should do our”: Magrath, “The Technique of a Medico-Legal Investigation.”
3“The duties of this office”: Myrtelle M. Canavan, “George Burgess Magrath,” Archives of Pathology 27, no. 3 (March 1939): 620–623.
4“If the law has”: Erle Stanley Gardner, The Case of the Glamorous Ghost (New York: Morrow, 1955), dedication.
5“He was always cheerful”: Letter from FGL to Erle Stanley Gardner, August 1954, GHM.
6“You ought to set”: William Boos, The Poison Trail (Boston: Hale, Cushman, & Flint, 1939), 40.
7“More than most men”: Letter from Frank Leon Smith to Erle Stanley Gardner, February 19, 1955, GHM.
8“His statements were the”: Boos, The Poison Trail, 41.
9Magrath in the courtroom: “Like a Lion Resting,” Boston Globe, December 18, 1938, D5.
10“He went into something”: “Like a Lion Resting.”
11“Get three drinks into”: “Like a Lion Resting.”
12“As a Medical Examiner”: Letter from FGL to Erle Stanley Gardner, August 1954, GHM.
13Avis Linnell case: “Quick March in Poison Tragedy of Dead Singer,” Boston Sunday Globe, October 22, 1911, 1; “Murder Ends a Love Dream,” Boston Sunday Globe, January 7, 1912, 8; Timothy Leary, “The Medical Examiner System,” Journal of the American Medical Association 89, no. 8 (August 20, 1927): 579–583.
14“It is as quick”: “Murder Ends a Love Dream.”
15“There was no primary suspicion”: New York Post, November 24, 1914, CHM.
16Marjorie Powers case: “Authorities Probe Death of Girl in Bathtub,” Pittsburgh Press, November 15, 1912, 1; “Another Boston Girl Thought Victim of Man,” Daily Gate City, November 15, 1912, 1; “Cummings Arrested on Woman’s Death,” Boston Globe, November 15, 1912, 1; “Boston Girl Not Victim of Foul Play,” Lincoln Daily News, November 15, 1912, 7; “Girl’s Death Natural, Employer Released,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 16, 1912, 2.
17Brimfield lawsuit: “Sues for $10,000,” Boston Globe, February 6, 1913, 1; “Widow Sues Medical Examiner Magrath,” Boston Globe, January 12, 1915, 1.
18Magrath framed for larceny: “Three Accused of Conspiracy,” Boston Globe, January 26, 1915, 1; “Men in Morgue Under Arrest,” Boston Globe, August 9, 1914, 1.
19The governor’s decision: “Not to Reappoint Dr. Geo. B. Magrath,” Boston Globe, July 16, 1914, 1.
20Brimfield lawsuit resolution: “Medical Examiner Magrath Exonerated,” Boston Globe, January 13, 1915, 1; “Reads Three Depositions,” Boston Globe, January 15, 1915, 1.
21Larceny plot falls apart: “Green Witness in Own Behalf,” Boston Globe, January 28, 1915, 1; “Green Admits He Did Wrong,” Boston Globe, January 28, 1915, 1; “Search Left to Subordinate,” Boston Globe, January 27, 1915, 1; “Jury Returns Sealed Verdict,” Boston Globe, February 2, 1915, 1.
22Green, Miller, and Kingston arrested: “Like a Lion Resting.”
23“The coroner is not”: Editorial, New York Daily Globe, March 2, 1914.
24Reform of New York’s coroner system: Milton Helpern and Bernard Knight, Autopsy: The Memoirs of Milton Helpern, the World’s Greatest Medical Detective (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1977), 11.
25Death of Eugene Hochette: “Point to a Murder Hid by Coroner’s Aid,” New York Times, November 25, 1914, 1.
26“I should say that”: “Murder Hid by Coroner’s Aid.”
27“A practically perfect instrument”: New York Tribune, February 25, 1915, 7.
28Early days of the New York City medical examiner’s office and laboratory: S. K. Niyogi, “Historic Development of Forensic Toxicology in America up to 1978,” American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 1, no. 3 (September 1980): 249–264; Deborah Blum, The Poisoner’s Handbook (New York: Penguin Press, 2010); Helpern and Knight, Autopsy: The Memoirs of Milton Helpern.
29“The rear end”: Boston Post, November 8, 1916, 7.
30Boston molasses disaster: Stephen Puleo, Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 (Boston: Beacon Press, 2003).
31“As though covered in”: Puleo, Dark Tide. 109.
32Sacco and Vanzetti case: “Sacco and Vanzetti: The Evidence,” Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, accessed March 2, 2019, https://www.mass.gov/info-details/sacco-vanzetti-the-evidence; Felix Frankfurter, The Case of Sacco and Vanzetti (New York: Little Brown, 1927); Dorothy G. Wayman, “Sacco-Vanzetti: The Unfinished Debate,” American Heritage 11, no. 1 (December 1959).
