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The State Wards

Creator: n/a
Date: April 7, 1883
Publication: The Lowell Weekly Sun
Source: The Pollard Memorial Library

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There was a night nurse in the foundling building who showed me a bottle containing a mixture of morphine, which he said the day nurse had left; she said she gave it to the children, and one dose kept them quiet the rest of the night; she said she didn't care whether it killed them as that was none of her business. I reported it to Dr. Lathrop, but it was ten days after that before she was removed; all the babies that were born there and that were brought in during the first year we were there were 78; I know about them because my wife had to count them; out of the 78 that we knew of but one babe was alive at the end of the year; that was little Jimmy Riley, who survived; they never had any service over the dead during my term there. From Tewksbury I, my wife accompanying me, went to Danvers; I got a recommendation from Dr. Lathrop, but I didn't rely on it, thinking that it would not be of much account; in fact, Dr. Goldsmith said that he didn't care anything about it; I showed him the recommendation of Dr. Earle of Northampton, and he said that was all right; I have stayed at Danvers ever since; it will be five years in July. In the cross-examination by Mr. Brown, counsel for the almshouse managers, the witness said that he was not discharged from the almshouse; that he was neither requested nor ordered to leave; that he went to Capt. Marsh and told him to fill the places of himself and his wife as soon as he could.

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The Governor read letters -- from Dr. Lathrop of Tewksbury, Dr. Earle of Northampton and Treasurer Ross of the Danvers asylum, commending Mr. and Mrs. Dudley in the highest terms, the last speaking in particular of Mr. Dudley's reliability.

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The Governor -- I now desire to have sent to my office the books of the institution showing the purchases for the last five years and all the sales of the institution for the last ten years.

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TUESDAY'S TESTIMONY

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The first witness at Tuesday's hearing was Miss Manning, whose team transported the dead bodies from Tewksbury to Boston, who testified as follows: Lived with her now deceased brother, Thomas Manning, for several years at Tewksbury; up to the time of his death he did a transportation business for the almshouse; did not know what her brother used to transport; he had a two-horse and a one-horse wagon, and used to go somewhere every week; after her brother died, she carried on the business of transportation herself, and was paid so much apiece for the things transported; witness received $10 apiece for carrying to one place and $12 apiece for carrying them to another, but she persisted that she did not know what the things were; Thomas Marsh, Jr., paid for the transportation. She admitted having a conversation with Thomas Marsh, Jr., about the price to be paid for "the little ones."

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Governor Butler asked her to state on her oath whether she knew what was transported. She trusted to Thomas Marsh, Jr., to settle the bill correctly -- trusted to his honesty; had not been paid for transportation since November last, and could not tell exactly how many "things" had been transported in that time; thought about five were transported in January.

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The next witness called was Mrs. Charlotte A. Thomas, who testified that she was employed at Tewksbury from 1870 to 1880. When she first went to Tewksbury she had charge of the dairy. Afterward she had charge of the lying-in hospital. While in the latter capacity Mrs. Marsh visited the hospital very seldom -- not once during the first year, and not more than three times in the second year. There were always inmates in the hospital. Witness stated four successive cases where healthy young mothers who were well delivered, died. The cause of their death, as she believed, was the malpractice of Dr. Pease, a female physician. The doctor had a very peculiar method of practice, compelling the patients to take doses of medicine every fifteen minutes during the twenty-four hours. Mrs. Marsh used to have an immense number of dresses to rip up, which dresses Mrs. Marsh used to say she had 40 years ago, and it became a standing joke what an immense number of dresses Mrs. Marsh had 40 years ago; knew that relatives of the Marshes from New Hampshire were very frequently at Tewksbury on a visit, the visits in some cases lasting two years: always when one of the relative visitors went home to New Hampshire a large trunk went too, and they always came without trunks; it was almost impossible to get clothing enough to keep the inmates warm, and witness had frequently been obliged to dress them in damp clothing because there were no others; when a dead inmate was laid out it was very difficult to get even an old dress to clothe it in, Mrs. Marsh telling them that anything would do; knew a large amount of washing was sent to the almshouse by relatives of the Marshes living elsewhere, to be done in the laundry; some of this washing was from members of the Marsh family at Harvard college; Kate Furry, an insane patient, was, when sick, placed in a side room, off the bath-room; next day witness went in there and the patient was dead and her face was badly gnawed by the rats; witness had been told the patient died while the attendant was asleep; while in charge of the dairy, there were 325 pounds of butter made per month on the average; of this amount one pound per meal was allowed the inmates; the rest was sent down to the captain's kitchen; on some days as many as twenty pounds were sent for, and witness noticed that on these days some one of the visiting children went to their home in New Hampshire; did not personally see billets of wood placed in coffins over which services were held, but it was commonly understood that that was done; she could not see with her own eyes for the reason that the remains were never exposed to view during the services; the coffin was practically always closed during the rellgious services; witness corroborated what Mr. Dudley had said about seeing large dry goods boxes in the corridors.

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