On This Day: Child exhumed in Lancaster

A child was exhumed On This Day in 1881 in Lancaster and a coroner’s inquest was held.

Elizabeth (correction is in the paper on 15 June 1881) Shaub’s child died at the house of Zach Boot in Faegleysville. Shaub is a single mother. Her child, born on 25 May, had been sick about a week. A doctor saw the child and thought the cause to be dysentery. The child died on Saturday, 11 June, and was buried in the Lancaster Cemetery on Sunday.

Constable Lentz, in the Sixth Ward, heard about the incident and informed Coroner Mishler. Mishler in turn ordered the child exhumed and an inquest be held. No foul play was found. The jury adjourned without verdict.

At some point overnight the jury requested Alderman Samson to arrest Elizabeth Shaub on the charge of infanticide. Shaub was to be held until a verdict was determined.

Source:

Lancaster daily intelligencer. (Lancaster, Pa.), 14 June 1881. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.

Lancaster daily intelligencer. (Lancaster, Pa.), 15 June 1881. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.

On This Day is a prompt to further explore historical events.

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