Carrie Pearson1900s, 30s, chicago, illinois, illegalmidwifeRavenswood in 1908At about 11 a.m. on March 25, 1909,* 37-year-old homemaker Carrie Pearson (or Person) died at Ravenswood Hospital in Chicago from septicemia caused by an abortion.

On her deathbed, Carrie said that the abortion had been perpetrated by 39-year-old midwife Caroline Meyer on March 18 at 447 Wells Street. Meyer was held by the coroner but the case resulted in a hung jury.

Carrie’s death followed the typical pattern of a Chicago abortion death of the era: An abortion performed by a midwife (or physician), followed by admission to a hospital and subsequent death, often after naming the perpetrator in a deathbed statement.

During her murder trial in Carrie’s death, Meyers was also under indictment for the abortion death of Nellie O’Neill.

For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion

Sources:

• Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database
• Death certificate
• “Midwife Accused of Murder,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Apr. 3, 1909
• “Jury is Spared Hardship,” Chicago Daily Tribune, 7 May, 1909
• “Hung Jury in Murder Trial,” Chicago Daily Tribune, 8 May, 1909

*Carrie’s death certificate gives her date of death as March 25, so I am using that date rather than the date of March 27 given in Chicago Tribune articles.

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