USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Brookville > A pioneer history of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania and my first recollections of Brookville, Pennsylvania, 1840-1843, when my feet were bare and my cheeks were brown > Part 60
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"'Since the above was in type and the excitement somewhat allayed, it is now believed by every person that the body was placed in the ice- house for dissection, and it is supposed that those who had the matter in charge had the key to the door and left everything safe and secure on Saturday night, and that some thief, knowing that during the warm weather butter had been placed there for protection, broken open the door and entered the place for the purpose of stealing, and on striking a
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light or groping around in search of butter, he came across the " dead darky," and, in his haste to get away, forgot to shut the door, and we have no doubt that the fellow who broke open the door left in a hurry. This is, no doubt, the true state of the case.'
" All this confusion was a good thing for the guilty parties, as it gave time for the angry populace to cool off.
" Who was this Henry Southerland ? He was a stout, perfect speci- men of physical manhood. He was a son of Charles and Susan Souther- land, née Van Camp. Charles Southerland came here in 1812,-a run- away slave. Miss Van Camp came to Port Barnett with her father, Fudge Van Camp, in 1801. Henry Southerland was born on the farm now owned by John Hoffman. He was a North Forker, and, like the other ' North Fork' boys, could drink, swear, wrestle, shoot, jump, ‘pull square,' and raft. In the latter part of October, 1857, he took the fever and died in a few days, aged about thirty years. He lived then on what is called the Charles Horn farm. He was married and had one child. His widow and daughter now reside in the county, highly respectable people.
" Dr. J. C. Simons was then living in Brookville, practising medi- cine under his father in law, Dr. James Dowling. Simons was ambitious to become a surgeon. He believed, like all intelligent doctors then, that a knowledge of anatomy was the foundation of the healing art. Dissection of human bodies then in Pennsylvania was a crime. You could dissect mules and monkeys, but not men. It was legal in New York State, and was made so in 1789, and this law in New York was greatly improved in 1854. New York was the first State in the New World to legalize ' the use of the dead to the living.'
" 'The first human body dissected was in Alexandria, Egypt, the cradle of anatomy. England legalized dissection in 1820. The first subject dissected in Jefferson County was in Brookville, in the winter of 1854-55, by Dr. George Watt, Dr. McClay, Samuel C. Arthurs, and a student, G. W. Burkett, now a doctor in Tyrone City, Pennsylvania. This subject was stolen from a graveyard in Clarion County, Pennsylva- vania. He was an Irishman who froze to death. He drank too much water in his whiskey.
" Ambition is something like love,-laughs at law and takes fearful risks. The death of Southerland, Simons thought, was a good chance for a subject and a surgical school to advance himself and assist the rest of
· us. On the day of Southerland's death Dr. Simons visited separately each of the following doctors in the town, and appointed a meeting to be held on Saturday night, October 31, at ten o'clock, in K. 1 .. Blood's drug-store, for the purpose of organizing and resurrecting the dead negro : Drs. J. G. Simons, John Dowling, Hugh Dowling, A. P. Heich- hold, and W. J. McKnight. By request, I secured, on Friday, October
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
30, permission from Dr. Clark to use for our school the empty house then owned by him, and where John Means now lives. Augustus Bell, an educated gentleman from Philadelphia, who lived and died here, and K. L. Blood, both medically inclined, were taken in as friends. Promptly at ten o'clock, Saturday night, October 31, 1857, all these parties met in council in the drug-store. Simons, the two Dowlings, and 'Little Bell' filled themselves full to the brim with Monongahela whiskey. Blood, Heichhold, and McKnight remained dry and took not a drop. At about eleven o'clock P.M. we all marched up Pickering Street, with a mattock, shovel, and rope. John Dowling and I were quite young men, and were stationed as watchers, or guards. The others were to resurrect. Simons and ' Little Bell' worked like ' bees,' and were as brave as lions as long as the whiskey stimulated them ; but when that died out they kicked and balked badly. Mr. Blood then took hold like a hero. He dug, shovelled, broke open the coffin, and 'there, down there in the earth's cold breast,' placed the rope around the subject and assisted in the resurrection of Southerland. Remember this :
"' It was a calm, still night, And the moon's pale light Shone soft o'er hill and dale,'
when we, seven ghouls, stood around the empty tomb of Henry Souther- land. The grave was then hastily filled, and carefully too. The naked corpse was now placed on a 'bier.' John Dowling and I took one side side, K. L. Blood and Simons the other, and under the autumn's full moon we left the graveyard ; down Barnett Street, crossed Coal Alley, across Jef- ferson Street, down to Cherry Alley, at the rear of Judge Clark's prop- erty now, and up Cherry Alley to the rear of the lot now owned by John Means, and down that lot to the kitchen part of the house, into which the body was carried and placed in a little bedroom west and south of the kitchen. This was done between the hours of one and two A. M., un- observed. Tired and weary, we all went home to rest, and expected to open the school on Monday night, the 2d, but for reasons I will give you farther on this was not done.
" On the evening of the 2d of November, 1857, my mother called me to one side and said, ' You have gotten yourself into trouble. You have been out nights. Don't say a word to me, just listen. You have been helping the other doctors to dig up Henry Southerland. Dr. Heichhold told Captain Wise all about it, Wise told his wife, she told Mrs. Samuel C. Arthurs, she told Mrs. Richard Arthurs, and Mrs. Richard Arthurs told me this afternoon. Now take care of yourself. As you are poor, you will have to suffer ; the others are all rich and influential.'
" This was a nitro-glycerin explosion to me. I made no reply to my dear mother, but left for Blood's drug-store, and repeated to him what
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mother had told me. His left hand went up as if struck by a Niagara electric current. I said to him, ' I want Dr. Clark protected now ; South- erland must be removed from his house.' Blood agreed with me. A cancus was then called for that night at the store, when it was decided to remove the body from the house down through the cellar and secrete it under those present front steps of John Means's house, and there it lay naked from Monday night until Wednesday night, when the cadaver was removed from there to Blood's ice-house, in a large coffee-sack, about nine P.M , as follows : McElhose had his printing-office in a little build- ing east and on the same lot. It was on that vacant piece next to Cor- bett's house now. It was built for and used as a drug-store. There was a door under the west side that opened into the under part of the porch and the front steps. If McElhose or any of his imps had ever opened that door, 'a dreadful sight would have met their startled view.' I was a printer and had learned the art in part with McElhose, and I was de- tailed to go into his office and make all kinds of noises and detract the attention of the printers from any sounds under the porch. This I did by dancing, kicking over furniture, etc. I could hear the other parties at times ; but McElhose thought I was drunk, or such a fool that he only watched and heard me. Everything worked favorably, and ' Black Hen' was successfully removed to a house whose inside walls were frigid and white. 'In the icy air of night' the school for dissection was opened on Wednesday and closed on Saturday morning. As our secret was known to so many, and realizing that we could not dissect in Brookville without being caught up, we only mutilated the cadaver for our personal safety.
" At this time Brookville was full of burglars, thieves, and house- breakers. On Friday night, the 6th, A. B. McLain was patrolling for robbers in Coal Alley, and under the ' ebon vault of heaven, studded with stars unutterably bright,' he espied what he thought to be three suspi- cious persons, and pounced down on them like a hawk on a chicken. The suspects proved to be Drs. Hugh Dowling, Heichhold, and ' Little Bell' (Augustus Bell). McLain was then taken a prisoner by the suspects, dumped into the ice-house, and for the first time in his life saw 'a man skinned.' The job was completed that night, and the cuticle, toes, fingers, and bowels were buried under a large rock in the ' Dark Hollow,' on Saturday forenoon, by Drs. Heichhold and John Dowling.
" For dissection the cadaver is divided into five parts : the head is given to one party, the right arm and side to another, the left arm and side to a third person, the right leg to a fourth, and the left leg to a fifth. In this way Dr. Simons and the four doctors skinned Henry Southerland. For us to dissect Southerland would have required about fifteen to twenty days.
" As dissection is a slow and intricate work, and to avoid discovery and arrest, efforts were made to remove as early as possible the subject
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
from town. Dr. David Ralston, then practising medicine in Reynolds- ville, was seen, and he agreed to come after the cadaver and take it home on Saturday night, the 7th. Dr. W. H. Reynolds, who resides now at Prescottville, this county, was then a young man, living on a farm near Rathmel, and Dr. Ralston secured his co-operation. On Saturday these two gentlemen came to Brookville with two mules in a wagon, and stopped at the American Hotel, J. J. Y. Thompson, proprietor. At a conference of all parties, it was arranged that Ralston and Reynolds should drive to the ice-house from the west end of Coal Alley about eleven o'clock P.M. They had a large store-box in the wagon to carry the corpse. The night was black dark. At ten P.M. J. Y. said, ' I'll be danged to Harry, what are so many doctors loafing here to-night for?' A little later, when Ralston ordered out the mules and wagon, Thompson was perfectly astonished, and exclaimed, ' I'll be dod danged to Harry and dangnation, if you men will leave my house at this late hour and this kind of a night for Reynoldsville.' But his objections were futile. We ghouls were detailed as follows : Blood and Bell as watchers, Heichhold and Hugh Dowling to open the ice-house door, and John Dowling and myself to hand the ' cadaver' out of the house to the men in the wagon. Explicit directions were given to avoid meeting there and forming a crowd.
" Dr. John Dowling and I were there at our appointed time, but the door was unopened, and so we left. Dr. Heichhold in some way lost the key at or near the ice-house, and had to go and find a hatchet to open the door. This he did, and the wagon came along, and, finding no one there, stopped a moment and left without the subject. On the North Fork bridge they pushed their box into the creek. I always felt that Dowling and myself were somewhat to blame ; but we were young and had received orders not to loiter around, and if the door was not opened to leave.
" About eight or nine o'clock on Sunday morning I went up to Dowling's and told John we had better go up and 'view the land.' When we arrived on the tragic scene we found the door open and broken. We peeped in, and while doing so we observed William C. Smith on Pickering Street watching us. We walked briskly away up Coal Alley ; but our actions and the 'broken door' excited his curiosity, and, hurry- ing over to the ice-house, he looked in, only to be horrified, and with arms extended towards heaven, pale as death, he ran home, exclaiming excitedly to those he met, that a man had been 'skinned alive' in Blood's ice-house. He had seen the man, and also saw Dr. John Dowling and Tom Espy looking at the man in the ice-house. William C. Smith has told his version of the discovery to me many times, and always put ' Tom Espy' in my place.
" In the evening of Sunday, the 8th, loud mutterings against the doc-
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
tors were heard, and we all hid. I hid in the loft above our old kitchen. At midnight, 'in the starlight,' I left for McCurdy's, in the Beechwoods. Monday morning, Blood had business in Pittsburg. David Barclay, a very able man and lawyer, was then our member of Congress, and he took charge of the prosecution. He and Blood had a political fend, and Barclay thought now was his time to annihilate Blood. Hearing of Bar- clay's activity, my brother, the late Colonel A. A. McKnight, then a young lawyer, made information against me before Esquire Smith, under the act of 1849, to protect graveyards. I returned on Tuesday night, and was arrested, taken before Smith, pleaded guilty, and was fined twenty- five dollars and costs, which I paid in full to the county commissioners, and I was the only one who had to pay a penalty. Under the above act the penalty was fine or imprisonment, or both. My conviction before Smith was to give me the benefit in court of that clause in the constitu- tion which says, ' No person for the same offence shall be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.' Barclay was a Republican, Blood was a Demo- crat. I was a Republican, without money or friends, therefore Barclay commenced his prosecution against Blood and me, leaving the others all out for witnesses. The criminal records of Justices Smith and Brady for some reason have been destroyed, therefore I cannot give them. Barclay kept up his prosecution until 1859, as the following legal records of the court show.
(Copy.) "' No. 14 Feby. 1859. Q. S.
"'Commonwealth vs. Kennedy L. Blood and William J. McKnight.
"' Indictment for removing a dead body from burial-ground. Prose- cutrix, Tracy Sweeney.
" ' Witnesses, Charles Anderson, F. C. Coryell, I. A. Dodd, John McGiven, A. P. Heichhold, Richard Arthurs, John Dowling, John Car- roll, William Smith, Thomas Espy, Myron Pearsall, Hugh Dowling, Aug. Beyle, William Reynolds, Henry Fullerton, Matthew Dowling, Wil- liam Russell, Sinthy Southerland, Zibion Wilber, James Dowling, A. M. Clarke, George Andrews, A. B. McLain, William Lansendoffer, I. D. N. Ralston, Charles McLain, James McCracken, Charles Matson. In the Court of Quarter Sessions for the County of Jefferson, February Session, 1859.
"' The grand inquest of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in- quiring for the body of the county, upon their oaths and affirmations re- spectfully do present, that Kennedy L. Blood and William J. McKnight, late of the County of Jefferson, on the fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty seven, with force and arms, at the County of Jefferson, the burial ground of and in the borough of Brookville there situate, unlawfully did enter and the grave there in
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
which the body of one Henry Southerland deceased had lately before then been interred ; and these two, with force and arms, unlawfully, wantonly, wilfully, and indecently, did dig open, and afterwards,-to wit, on the same day and year aforesaid,-with force and arms, at the county afore- said, the body of him, the said Henry Southerland, out of the grave afore- said, unlawfully and indecently, did take and carry away, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
""' And the grand inquest aforesaid, upon their oaths and affirma- tion, do further present, that Kennedy L. Blood and William J. Mc- Knight, late of the County of Jefferson, on the fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, with force and arms, at the County of Jefferson, the burial ground of and in the borough of Brookville there situate, unlawfully and clandestinely, did enter, and the grave there in which the body of one Henry Southerland, deceased, had lately before then been interred ; and these two, with force and arms clandestinely, did dig open, and afterwards, -to wit, on the same day and year aforesaid, with force and arms, at the county afore- said, the body of him, the said Henry Southerland, out of the grave afore- said, clandestinely and indecently, did take, remove, and carry away, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and provided.
"'A. L. GORDON, "' District Attorney.
"' Commonwealth os. K. L. Blood and William J. McKnight.
""' In the Court of Quarter Sessions of Jefferson County.
"' No. 14 Feby. Session, 1859. Q. S. D. No. 2, page 87.
""' Indictment for removing a dead body. Not a true bill. County to pay costs.
" ' WILLIAM M. JOHNSTON, "' Foreman.
"'' Received of A. L. Gordon, my costs, Hugh Dowling, Charles An- derson, John E. Carroll, A. P. Heichhold, W. C. Smith, M. A. Dow- ling, A. B. McLain, H. R. Fullerton, M. M. Pearsall. Justice Brady, $4.52 ; attorney, $3.'
" This indictment was under the act of 1855, 'To protect burial- grounds,' the penalty of which was : If any person shall open any tomb or grave in any cemetery, graveyard, or any grounds set apart for burial purposes, either private or public, held by individuals for their own use, or in trust for others, or for any church or institution, whether incor- porated or not, without the consent of the owners or trustees of such grounds, and clandestinely or unlawfully remove, or attempt to remove,
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
any human body, or part thereof, therefrom, such person, upon convic- tion thereof, shall be sentenced to undergo an imprisonment in the county jail or penitentiary for a term of not less than one year, nor more than three years, and pay a fine of not less than one hundred dollars, at the discretion of the proper court.
" The witnesses before the grand jury were of two kinds,-those who knew and those who didn't know. Those who knew refused to testify, on the ground of incriminating themselves, and Judge McCalmont sus- tained them.
" The attorneys for the Commonwealth were A. L. Gordon, district attorney, and Hon. David Barclay. Our attorneys were Amor A. McKnight, Benjamin F. Lucas, and William P. Jenks.
" K. L. Blood and Dr. Heichhold, until the day of their death, were opposite political party leaders, and whenever either one addressed a political assembly some wag or opponent in ambush would always inter- rogate the speaker with ' Who skinned the nigger ?'
" Before concluding this article it might be well to say that the ‘ice- house' was never used for any purpose after November 8, 1857.
"In 1883, when I was a State senator, I was invited to dine with Professor W. H. Pancoast, of Philadelphia. The city, State, and nation was agitated over the robbing of 'Lebanon Cemetery,' in that city. It was thought that these subjects were for dissection in Jefferson Medical College. Dr. Pancoast was then professor of anatomy in that school. While at dinner the question was raised as to what effect this scandal would have upon the college. During this talk I broached the idea that now would be an opportune time to secure legal dissection for Pennsyl- vania. The wisdom of my suggestion was doubted and controverted. I defended my position in this wise : The people of the city and State are excited, alarmed, and angered, and I would frame the ‘act to prevent the traffic in human bodies and to prevent the desecration of graveyards.' This would appeal to the good sense of the people, as an effort, at least, in the right direction. Dr. Pancoast soon coincided with me, and from that moment took an active interest in the matter. He met with opposi- tion at first from those who ought to have supported him ; but I assured the doctor if he would get the Anatomical Association of the city to draft a suitable law and send it to Senator Reyburn, of that city, I would sup- port it from the country, and that we would push it through the Senate. Dr. Pancoast deserves great praise for his energy in overcoming the timid- ity and fears of the college deans and others in the city, and in finally inducing the ' Association' to frame the present act and send it to Senator Reyburn. This law in Pennsylvania legalizing dissection was passed finally on June 4, 1883. Its passage met serious and able opposition in both Houses. I firmly believe that had I not been connected with and prosecuted in this pioneer resurrection case in Brookville, I would not
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have been impelled to propose such a law or to champion it in the Senate. As introduced by Senator Reyburn, the title was, 'Senate bill 117, entitled An Act for the promotion of medical science, by the distribution and use of unclaimed human bodies for scientific purposes, through a board created for that purpose, and to prevent unauthorized uses and traffic in human bodies.'
" The act as passed and approved reads as follows,-viz. :
"'No. 106. AN ACT FOR THE PROMOTION OF MEDICAL SCIENCE BY THE DISTRIBUTION AND USE OF UNCLAIMED HUMAN BODIES FOR SCIEN- TIFIC PURPOSES THROUGH A BOARD CREATED FOR THAT PURPOSE, AND TO PREVENT UNAUTHORIZED USES AND TRAFFIC IN HUMAN BODIES.
"'SECTION I. Be it enacted, etc., That the professors of anatomy, the professors of surgery, the demonstrators of anatomy, and the demonstra- tors of surgery of the medical and dental schools and colleges of this Commonwealth, which are now or may hereafter become incorporated, together with one representative from each of the unincorporated schools of anatomy or practical surgery, within this Commonwealth, in which there are from time to time, at the time of the appointment of such rep- resentatives, shall be not less than five scholars, shall be and hereby are constituted a board for the distribution and delivery of dead human bodies, hereinafter described, to and among such persons as, under the provisions of this act, are entitled thereto. The professor of anatomy in the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, shall call a meeting of said board for organization at a time and place to be fixed by him within thirty days after the passage of this act. The said board shall have full power to establish rules and regulations for its government, and to ap- point and remove proper officers, and shall keep full and complete minutes of its transactions ; and records shall also be kept under its direction of all bodies received and distributed by said board, and of the persons to whom the same may be distributed, which minutes and records shall be open at all times to the inspection of each member of said board, and of any district attorney of any county within this Com- monwealth.
" 'SECTION 2. All public officers, agents, and servants, and all offi- cers, agents, and servants of any and every county, city, township, borough, district, and other municipality, and of any and every almshouse, prison, morgue, hospital, or other public institution having charge or control over dead human bodies, required to be buried at the public ex- pense, are hereby required to notify the said board of distribution, or such person or persons as may, from time to time, be designated by said board or its duly authorized officer or agent, whenever any such body or bodies come to his or their possession, charge, or control ; and shall, without fee or reward, deliver such body or bodies, and permit and suf-
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
fer the said board and its agents, and the physicians and surgeons from time to time designated by them, who may comply with the provisions of this act, to take and remove all such bodies to be used within this State for the advancement of medical science ; but no such notice need be given nor shall any such body be delivered if any person claiming to be and satisfying the authorities in charge of said body that he or she is of kindred or is related by marriage to the deceased, shall claim the said body for burial, but it shall be surrendered for interment, nor shall the notice be given or body delivered if such deceased person was a traveller who died suddenly, in which case the said body shall be buried.
"'SECTION 3. The said board or their duly authorized agent may take and receive such bodies so delivered as aforesaid, and shall, upon receiving them, distribute and deliver them to and among the schools, colleges, physicians, and surgeons aforesaid, in manner following : Those bodies needed for lectures and demonstrations by the said schools and colleges incorporated and unincorporated shall first be supplied ; the remaining bodies shall then be distributed proportionately and equitably, preference being given to said schools and colleges, the number assigned to each to be based upon the number of students in each dissecting or operative surgery class, which number shall be reported to the board at such times as it may direct. Instead of receiving and delivering said bodies themselves, or through their agents or servants, the board of dis- tribution may, from time to time, either directly or by their authorized officer or agent, designate physicians and surgeons who shall receive them, and the number which each shall receive : Provided always, how- erer, That schools and colleges incorporated and unincorporated, and physicians or surgeons of the county where the death of the person or such person described takes place, shall be preferred to all others : And provided also, That for this purpose such dead body shall be held subject to their order in the county where the death occurs for a period not less than twenty-four hours.
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