SUMMARY: Emma Dep died under mysterious circumstances under the care of abortionist Dr. Louisa Hagenow on August 24, 1888 in San Francisco.

“Mrs. Emma Dep, who had been an inmate of the Maternity Home [operated by Mrs. Louisa Hagenow], died at 537 Second street on the 24th of August. Dr. Erenberg signed her death certificate, ascribing the cause to peritonitis. the Coroner has held no investigation in this case, as the woman herself admitted to Dr. Erenberg that she herself was the cause of her death.” — “Another Body Exhumed,” San Francisco Bulletin, August 29, 1888

I’ve been unable to find out anything else about Emma.

Lucy “Louise” HagenowI find it a bit odd that there was no investigation of the death. There is simply no explanation that makes any sense other than that Emma had gone to known abortionist Louisa Hagenow, had an abortion at the maternity home, thought she was recovering and went home.

Considering that there had recently been three Hagenow patients dying from botched abortions — Louise Derchow (August, 1887), Anna Doreis (June, 1888) and Abbia Richards (June, 1888) — one would think that they’d dig deeper into the circumstances surrounding Emma’s death. Furthermore, a man named Franz Krone had died on August 13 at Hagenow’s maternity home, leaving behind jewelry and money that was never accounted for.

Hagenow, who also operated under the name Lucy Hagenow, relocated to Chicago and began piling up dead bodies there as well. She was implicated in numerous abortion deaths, including:

• 1891: Minnie Deering
• 1892: Sophia Kuhn and Emily Anderson
• 1896: Hannah Carlson
• 1899: Marie Hecht
• 1905: May Putnam
• 1906: Lola Madison
• 1907: Annie Horvatich
• 1925: Lottie Lowy, Nina H. Pierce, Jean Cohen, Bridget Masterson, and Elizabeth Welter
• 1926: Mary Moorehead

Source:

Another Body Exhumed SFBullitin 20 July 1879.jpg