USA > Pennsylvania > A pioneer outline history of northwestern Pennsylvania > Part 29
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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, broke open the door and entered the place for the purpose of stealing, and on striking a 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 us guilty parties, as it gave time for the angry populace to cool off.
" Who was this Henry Southerland? He was a stout, perfect specimen of physical manhood. He was a son of Charles and Susan Southerland, 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 medicine under his father-in-law, Dr. James Dowling. Simons was ambitious' to become a surgeon. He believed, like all intelligent doctors then, that a knowl- edge 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
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in 1789, to dissect the bodies of executed criminals, 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.' Massachusetts in 1860 passed a local law.
" The first legislation in Pennsylvania looking toward legalized dissection locally was in 1867. A member of the House introduced a local law to apply to the counties of Philadelphia and Allegheny,-viz., No. 482, ' An Act for the promotion of medical science, and to prevent the traffic in human bodies, in the city of Philadelphia and the county of Allegheny.' This law passed finally and was approved by John W. Geary on the 18th day of March, 1867."
This law of 1867 was incepted by the Philadelphia College of Physicians, manipulated and pushed in and through the Legislature by a committee of that body consisting of Drs. D. Hayes Agnew, S. D. Gross, Henry Hartshorn, and others.
Of the members and senators at that time who deserve a special notice for services rendered, I mention Dr. Wilmer Worthington, then a senator from Chester County.
" The first human body dissected was in Alexandria, Egypt, the cradle of anatomy. England legalized dissection in 1832. 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, Pennsylvania. 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 Satur- day night, October 31, at ten o'clock, in K. L. Blood's drug-store, for the purpose of organizing and resurrecting the dead negro: Drs. J. G. Simons, John Dowling, Hugh Dowling, A. P. Heichhold, and W. J. McKnight. By request, I secured, on Friday, October 30, permission from Dr. Clarke 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
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' 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. Remem- ber 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, K. L. Blood and Simons the other, and under the autumn's full moon we left the grave- yard; down Barnett Street, across Coal Alley, across Jefferson Street, down to Cherry Alley, at the rear of Judge Clark's property 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., unobserved. 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 after- noon. Now take care of yourself. As you are poor, you will have to suffer ; the others are all rich and influential.'
" This was a nitroglycerin explosion to me. I made no reply to my dear mother, but left for Blood's drug-store, and repeated to him what mother had told me. His left hand went up as if struck by a Niagara electric current. I said to him, 'I want Dr. Clarke protected now ; Southerland must be re- moved from his house.' Blood agreed with me. A caucus 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 Wednes- day 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 building east and on the same lot. It was on that vacant piece next to where Corbet's house is now. It was built for and used as a drug- store. There was a door upon 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
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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 detailed 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 skinned the cadaver to prevent identification and 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 un- utterably bright,' he espied what he thought to be three suspicious 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). Mc- Lain 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 from town. Dr. David Ralston, then practising medicine in Reynoldsville, 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 (1898) at Prescott- ville, 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, Thomp- son was perfectly astonished, and exclaimed 'I'll be dod danged to Harry
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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 as instructed. 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 a boy-William C. Smith-on Pickering Street watching us. We walked briskly away up Coal Alley; but our actions and the 'broken door' excited Will's curiosity, and, hurrying over to the ice- house, he looked in, only to be horrified, and with arms extended toward 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. He never knew other- wise until he read this article.
" In the evening of Sunday, the 8th, loud mutterings against the doctors were heard, and we all hid. I hid in the loft above our old kitchen. At mid- night, '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 feud, and Barclay thought now was his time to annihilate Blood. Hearing of Barclay'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. Un- der the above act the penalty was fine or imprisonment, or both. My convic- tion before Smith was to give me the benefit in court of that clause in the constitution 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-
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crat. I was a Republican, without money or friends, therefore Barclay com- menced 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, L. A. Dodd, John Mc- Given, A. P. Heichhold, Richard Arthurs, John Dowling, John Carroll, Wil- liam Smith, Thomas Espy, Myron Pearsall, Hugh Dowling, Aug. Beyle, William Reynolds, Henry Fullerton, Matthew Dowling, William 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 Ses- sions for the County of Jefferson, February Session, 1859.
"'The grand inquest of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, inquiring for the body of the county, upon their oaths and affirmations respectfully 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 thou- sand 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 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 aforesaid, the body of him, the said Henry Southerland, out of the grave aforesaid, 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 affirmation, do further 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 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 aforesaid, the body of him, the said Henry Souther-
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land, out of the grave aforesaid, 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 vs. 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. JOHNSON, "' Foreman.
"'Received of A. L. Gordon, my costs, Hugh Dowling, Charles Ander- son, John E. Carroll, A. P. Heichhold, W. C. Smith, M. A. Dowling, 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 a 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 incorporated or not, without the consent of the owners or trustees of such grounds, and clandestinely or un- lawfully remove, or attempt to remove, any human body, or part thereof, therefrom, such person, upon conviction 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 sustained 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 interrogate 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.
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" About the Ist of December, 1882, 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 Pennsylvania. The wis- dom of my suggestion was doubted and controverted. I defended my posi- tion 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 in- terest in the matter. He met with opposition at first from those who ought to have supported him; but I assured the doctor if he would get the Phila- delphia Anatomical Association of the city to draft a suitable law and send it to Senator Reyburn, of that city, I would support it from the country, and that we would rush it through the Senate. Dr. Pancoast deserves great praise for his energy in overcoming the timidity and fears of the college deans and others in the city, and in finally inducing the 'Association' to frame the present new and State act and send it to Senator Reyburn. The framing of the act was brought about in this wise,-viz. :
EXTRACTS FROM THE MINUTES OF THE ASSOCIATION "' PHILADELPHIA, December 28, 1882.
"' The undersigned request the Distribution Committee of the Anato- mist's Association to call a meeting of the Association at an early date to consider the propriety of attempting to modify the existing Anatomy Act, or to have a new act passed which will increase the legal supply of material. "' JOHN B. ROBERTS. JNO. B. DEAVER. W. W. KEEN.'
" A special meeting of this Association was called for January 4, 1883, at 1118 Arch Street. There were present at this meeting Drs. Garretson, Hun- ter, Du Bois, Perkins, Mears, and Keen. A committee was appointed to draft a new Anatomy Act, consisting of the following: Drs. Mears, Hunter, and Keen. On Tuesday, January 9, 1883, this committee read the draft of their act, which was read and finally adopted.
" JOHN B. ROBERTS, " Secretary.
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" MEETING OF WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 1883
" The meeting was called to order by the President, and the minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.
" Present : Drs. Leidy, Forbes, A. R. Thomas, Pancoast, Brinton, Oliver, Stubbs, Janney, Hunter, Mears, Roberts, and Keen.
" The new Anatomy Act, which had been printed and distributed as ordered at last meeting, was discussed, and a number of amendments sug- gested by the committee of revision were adopted. The last sentence of Section VI. (old Section V.) was discussed, and, on motion, its adoption was postponed until the next meeting. It was resolved to meet again on Saturday, January 27, at same place and hour, because some of the colleges had not had time to consider the act in faculty meeting.
" It was resolved that the colleges and schools be requested to subscribe to a fund to meet the necessary expenses of preparing and presenting the Act to the Legislature ; the sums apportioned to each were, University, Jefferson, and Hahnemann, each twenty-five dollars; Woman's, Pennsylvania Dental, Philadelphia Dental, Medico-Chirurgical, each ten dollars; Academy of Fine Arts, Pennsylvania School of Anatomy, Philadelphia School of Anatomy, each five dollars.
" Adjourned.
" JOHN B. ROBERTS, " Secretary.
MEETING OF SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 1883
" The meeting was called to order by the President. On motion of Pro- fessor Pancoast, William Janney was appointed secretary pro tempore. The minutes of the meeting held January 24 were read and approved.
" Present : Drs. Leidy, A. R. Thomas, Pancoast, Brinton, Oliver, Stubbs, Hunter, Mears, Keen, Agnew, and Janney.
" Dr. Brinton moved to postpone action on the Act until the Faculty of Jefferson College had examined it. Motion debated by Drs. Brinton, Mears, Oliver, Stubbs, and Agnew. Motion withdrawn.
" Motion by Dr. Agnew, seconded by Dr. Mears, that this bill be referred back to the Committee, with direction to employ counsel. Adopted.
" Adjourned to meet at the call of the Committee.
" WILLIAM S. JANNEY, " Secretary.
MEETING OF TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1883
" Called to order by the President.
" Present : Drs. Leidy, Mears, Hunter, Oliver, Brinton, A. R. Thomas, Stubbs, and Roberts.
" As the minutes of the previous meeting had not been sent by the tem- porary secretary, their reading was dispensed with. Dr. Mears reported that
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a new form of bill had been prepared by the Committee under the legal advice of Mr. Gendel and Mr. Sheppard. This was accepted in toto. Moved that twenty copies of a petition prepared by Dr. Keen, to accompany the Act, be printed and signed by the members of the various faculties and schools. Carried.
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