Cook suspected of poisoning family; but no charges brought
MARY LOU MONTGOMERY
A mortar and pestle is historically used to grind and mix active drug ingredients. Library of Congress prints and photographs online catalog.
On Oct. 11, 1881, Hiram Westfall and his extended family were living high atop a river bluff about a mile and a half south of Hannibal. On this particular morning, they were settled around the table for an early morning meal of oatmeal mush.
Soon after the communal breakfast began, diners, each in turn, exhibited severe signs of intestinal distress.
Most seriously affected was Mr. Westfall’s wife, Lizzie, who died about 6 p.m. Oct. 12, according to a report in the Oct. 14, 1881 edition of the Quincy Daily Whig.
Mr. Westfall, about 56 at the time, was able enough to mount a horse, and ride into Hannibal to summon physicians, Dr. F.A. Bishop, with an office at 509 Broadway, and Dr. Jno. Chamberlain, who resided at the northeast corner of Broadway and Maple.
Later that day, the others who were sickened had recovered and were considered to be out of danger:
A hired man, identified as a Mr. Graham;
A young girl, Lizzie Able;
Mr. Westfall; and
Mary Wilber, identified as the negro cook.
There was also reportedly a 5-year-old boy in the house at the time of the poisoning.
A corner’s jury was impaneled at 10 a.m. Oct. 14, 1881, at which time Mr. Westfall, Miss Able, Mr. Graham and the cook, Mary Wilber, testified.
The St. Louis Republic reported on Oct. 15 that, “Various theories have been advanced as to how the poison came to be in the food.”
It was reported by the Atchison, Kan., Daily Patriot on Oct. 15, 1881 that, “The testimony was very full and complete, and from it is impossible to tell who did the poisoning. The cook, who has been strongly suspicioned, told a straightforward story on the witness stand, which created a doubt in the minds of many as to her guilt.”
A post mortem examination was conducted.
Prof. John North, of the Keokuk Medical College, conducted an analysis of the contents of Mrs. Westfall’s stomach and the oatmeal as bought from the store.
“The food when purchased was free from poison,” the LaGrange Democrat reported on Dec. 17, 1881, “and when eaten contained arsenic in large quantity.”
Coroner Evans Fritz received a letter from Prof. North giving the chemical analysis of the stomach. The findings were reported in the Dec. 8, 1881 edition of the Hannibal Courier.
“He said that the bottle which contained the washing of the vessel in which the oatmeal was cooked contains a large quantity of poison, and that a careful analysis of the oatmeal in dry bulk fails to reveal the presence of arsenic. The stomach contained traces of arsenic, but most of the arsenic in (the) stomach was vomited up or absorbed. He is convinced that death was caused by arsenic.”
Mary Wilber was at first arrested, but later released when the grand jury failed to issue an indictment.
The coroner’s jury found: “deceased came to her death from the effects of arsenic, placed in oatmeal partaken of by said Mrs. Nellie Westfall, on the morning of October 12th, by some party or parties unknown.” (The Brunswicker, Nov. 11, 1881)
Westfall family
Hiram Westfall was first married to Ruby Haven in 1837. She died in 1872. Together, they had nine children. Those children included:
Albert Westfall 1840-1843
Amanda Noel Westfall Jacques 1842-1916
Eugene Morton Westfall 1848-1913
Clara M. Westfall 1851-1852
Benton Frank Westfall 1853-1902
Joseph R. (Joe) Westfall 1859-1941.
Remarriage
Nellie O’Connell (1843-1881) was Mr. Westfall’s second wife. She was the daughter of John and Mary O’Connell, of St. Louis, formerly of Massachusetts. The Westfalls were married in December 1875 at the home of Bernard S. and Maria O’Connell Creamer, Nellie’s brother-in-law and sister. Bernard Creamer was a salesman for Scruggs, Vandervoort and Barney, and lived at 1130 Brooklyn, St. Louis. The Rev. Father Gleason officiated.
Mr. Westfall and both of his wives are buried in the old section, Old Limits, Lot 40, Mount Olivet Cemetery.
Miss Able
Lizzie M. Able was living with Hiram and Nellie Westfall at the time of Mrs. Westfall’s death. She testified before the coroner’s jury, and was, herself, sickened by the oatmeal.
Her connection to the family is vague, but suggests that she was considered to be the Westfall’s (perhaps adopted, or foster) daughter. In July 1877, Mr. Henry Jaques, who was Hiram Westfall’s son-in-law and who lived on the adjoining river bluff farm, served as guardian of the estate of Miss Able, a minor, whose estimated birth was in 1861.
Miss Able was married to James T. Davis of Quincy, Ill., at 4 p.m. Nov. 4, 1885, at the Hiram Westfall home. The wedding notice listed as her near relatives Miss Able’s two (biological) aunts, Mrs. John Henry (Elizabeth Able) Brinkop, born in 1844, and Mrs. D.P. (Malissa Able) Harris, both of Quincy, Ill. The bride was also a (biological) cousin of Mrs. John G. McDade of Quincy.
Miss Able’s aunts, Elizabeth and Malissa, were daughters of John Able, a teamster living in Hannibal in 1850, and his wife, possibly Jane A. Able, 29. The 1850 census lists John children, including Sarah E. Able, 16; Malissa Able, 14; James Decatur Able, 10 (1839-1860) and Eliza Able, 8.
Note: An event reported this series, “1875 school outing takes place on Westfall’s farm,” took place some six months prior to the marriage of Hiram and Nellie Westfall, and six years prior to Mrs. Westfall’s poisoning death.
Prof. North
Dr. John North, of the Keokuk Medical College, who conducted an analysis of the contents of Mrs. Westfall’s stomach, later left Keokuk, relocating to Toledo, Ohio, where he earned a number of patents for his medical research.
In 1918, he returned to Iowa, where he visited his siblings in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Dr. Gustavus North (1846-1918) and Mrs. Sarah M. Burchell (1839-1923).
They were the children of Jesse and Elizabeth North.
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