Disaster - Cause of Death: Peritonitis Following Abortion - Week 9 of #52Ancestors
I don't know much about my 3rd Great Aunt Wilhelmine Sophie Haufler Beller but I do know that the first time I saw her death certificate from 1895, I couldn't imagine the disaster it was for her family.
Her death certificate states the cause of death as Peritonitis Following Abortion.
In 1895, abortion was a crime in New York. Under an 1845 law, woman who had an abortion faced a prison sentence of three months to a year. Under an 1872 law, anyone performing an abortion faced a prison sentence of four to twenty years.
Despite these laws, and presumably knowing the risks to her health and possibly her life, Wilhelmine Sophie Haufler Beller chose to have an abortion in January 1895.
Wilhelmine was born on January 28, 1859 in Marbach, Wurttemburg, Germany, the daughter of Gottlob Friedrich Haufler (1820-1899) and Christine Catherarina Haas (1819 - ????). She was the 6th of their 7 known children.
Wilhelmine immigrated to New York on March 12, 1883 arriving on the ship Oder from Bremen and Southhampton. She may have been coming to live with her sister Christiane Wilhelmine Haufler (1856-1889) and her husband Jakob Heinrich Sturm (1857-1950) who had married in Brooklyn in 1882.
On March 14, 1885, Wilhelmine married Johann Georg Beller (1855-1900) in Manhattan. Over the next decade, the Bellers settled in Brooklyn where Georg Beller was a baker. Four children were born to the couple Herman Frederick Beller (1886-1950), Emma Beller (1887-1965), Matilda Louise Beller (1890-1986) and Wilhelmina Beller (1892- 1985).
And then presumably in late 1894, Wilhelmine found herself pregnant again. We may never know why she chose to try to end her pregnancy. It may have been that something was going wrong with her pregnancy. Or that she was in poor health and feared the pregnancy would kill her. Or perhaps the family just couldn't afford another child.
In any case, in early January 1895, Wilhelmine Sophie Haufler Beller underwent an abortion. Something went wrong. And on January 12, 1895, she died of peritonitis at St. Mary's Hospital in Brooklyn.
In addition to her husband and four children, Wilhelmine Haufler Beller left behind family in both New York and in Germany. In Brooklyn, she left her brother Wilhlem Gottlieb Haufler (1863-1950),
two nephews William Frederick George Schickler (1873-1936) and Georg Paul Schickler (1876-1963) , both sons of her sister Marie Haufler Schickler (1846-1887), and niece Wilhelmina L Sturm (1887 - ????). In Germany, her father, at least two siblings and at least one niece survived.
Her death certificate states the cause of death as Peritonitis Following Abortion.
In 1895, abortion was a crime in New York. Under an 1845 law, woman who had an abortion faced a prison sentence of three months to a year. Under an 1872 law, anyone performing an abortion faced a prison sentence of four to twenty years.
Despite these laws, and presumably knowing the risks to her health and possibly her life, Wilhelmine Sophie Haufler Beller chose to have an abortion in January 1895.
Wilhelmine was born on January 28, 1859 in Marbach, Wurttemburg, Germany, the daughter of Gottlob Friedrich Haufler (1820-1899) and Christine Catherarina Haas (1819 - ????). She was the 6th of their 7 known children.
Wilhelmine immigrated to New York on March 12, 1883 arriving on the ship Oder from Bremen and Southhampton. She may have been coming to live with her sister Christiane Wilhelmine Haufler (1856-1889) and her husband Jakob Heinrich Sturm (1857-1950) who had married in Brooklyn in 1882.
On March 14, 1885, Wilhelmine married Johann Georg Beller (1855-1900) in Manhattan. Over the next decade, the Bellers settled in Brooklyn where Georg Beller was a baker. Four children were born to the couple Herman Frederick Beller (1886-1950), Emma Beller (1887-1965), Matilda Louise Beller (1890-1986) and Wilhelmina Beller (1892- 1985).
And then presumably in late 1894, Wilhelmine found herself pregnant again. We may never know why she chose to try to end her pregnancy. It may have been that something was going wrong with her pregnancy. Or that she was in poor health and feared the pregnancy would kill her. Or perhaps the family just couldn't afford another child.
In any case, in early January 1895, Wilhelmine Sophie Haufler Beller underwent an abortion. Something went wrong. And on January 12, 1895, she died of peritonitis at St. Mary's Hospital in Brooklyn.
In addition to her husband and four children, Wilhelmine Haufler Beller left behind family in both New York and in Germany. In Brooklyn, she left her brother Wilhlem Gottlieb Haufler (1863-1950),
two nephews William Frederick George Schickler (1873-1936) and Georg Paul Schickler (1876-1963) , both sons of her sister Marie Haufler Schickler (1846-1887), and niece Wilhelmina L Sturm (1887 - ????). In Germany, her father, at least two siblings and at least one niece survived.
Comments
Post a Comment