~ START - | MICROFILMED 1986 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - BERKELEY GENERAL LIBRARY BERKELEY, CA 94720 COOPERATIVE PRESERVATION MICROFILMING PROJECT THE RESEARCH LIBRARIES GROUP, INC. Funded by THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES THE ANDREW W. MELLON FOUNDATION Reproductions may not be made without permission. THE PRINTING MASTER FROM WHICH THIS REPRODUCTION WAS MADE IS HELD BY THE MAIN LIBRARY - UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY, CA 94720 FOR ADDITIONAL REPRODUCTION REQUEST MASTER NEGATIVE NUMBER g4-0n¢6 AUTHOR TITLE: A life record of... PLACE: cSan Francisco 3 DATE: C1373 VOLUME S: (} F860 os CALL C2 MASTER NO. V5: x NEG. NO, 07¢¥6 F860 C2 v. 5:11 A life record of "Dr." C.C. O'Donnell. A wretch who boasted that he cut off the legs of Union soldiers to prevent them fighting against the South. abortionist, who buries his own victims in a grocery box [San Francisco, 1878] 23cm. 7p. illus. v.5, no.11j A fiend's boast. A self- convicted [Pamphlets and California biography, ( SHELF LIST FILMED AND PROCESSED BY LIBRARY PHOTOGRAPHIC SERVICE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY, CA 94720 josno. 8/6 1500 DATE 3 86 Fo — - REDUCTION RATIO 8 - ct ——— al | DOCUMENT BANCROFT LIBRARY as les lle ie flE2 22 = lee lle uw le li is Mee ——— ——— & I f= I; —— —— ———— — —— ———— MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS STANDARD REFERENCE MATERIAL 1010a (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) A LIFE RECORD —— OF — “DR.” C. C. O'DONNELL. A wretch who Boasted that he Cut off the Legs of Union Soldiers to Prevent them Fighting against the South. A Self-Convicted Abortionist, who buries his ewn victims in a Grocery Box. « A man, than who the penitentiary holds few as vile, and none less: guilty.” , The following startling facts are presented to thought- ful men who, “for the joke of it,” intend to vote for C. C. ODonnell. In this pamphlet are collected extrac!s from the evidence taken in the libel suit of O'Donnell vs. the San Francisco “Chronicle,” the article which provoked the suit, the self-condemning evidence of O Donnell, extracts from the attorney's argument, and remarks by the presiding judge in deciding the case; resolutions introduced in the Constitutional Convention calling for O Donnell’s expulsion. Let the facts speak for themselves! Let the citizens and voters, the father and husband, consider well wheth- er a man like O'Donnell, whose life is one slimy path, by their vote should be made Coroner of this great city of San Francisco. Following 1s the article from the San Francisco “ Chronicle” of December 6, 1878, upon which O' Don- nell based his suit for libel : A FIEND’S BOAST. HOW WOUNDED FEDERAL PRISONERS WERE TREAT- ED BY DR. O'DONNELL. “Dr.” Charles C. O'Donnell, the abortionist, and a member of the Constitutional Convention—who, with McFarland and Fawcett, is in favor of shackling the press of the State—claims to have been, at one time during the war of the Rebellion, a surgeon in the Confeder- ate army. He asserts that he was attached to the Army of Virginia under General Lee, and that, while acting in his professional capacity attending the wounded Federal soldiers who were held as prisoners by the Confederates, he often cut off the arms and legs of the wound- ed prisoners, in order that they might not be able again to fight the Confederacy. He did not pretend to say that amputation was nec- essary or the best thing for the wounded men, but declared that he had done it to prevent the wounded soldiers from taking up arms 4 ‘again. It is the membership of such men as “Dr.” O'Donnell and the unnaturalized Wellock that brings odium upon the Working- men’s party. The sooner they rid themselves of these “ Old Men of the Sea,” and choose men in whom they can repose confidence, the better for that organization. EXTRACTS FROM EVIDENCE GIVEN IN THE LIBEL SUIT OF O'DONNELL vs. THE SAN FRANCISCO “ CHRONICLE.” C. C. O'Donnell, sworn: I am not a graduate of any medical college. I would not swear that I did not tell people that I had been in the Army of Virginia, and had cut off the legs of Union soldiers to disable them from further ser- vice. [Witness was here asked several anatomical questions, which he failed to answer.] I knew a woman named Eugenie Chauvet. I was arrested for an improper operation in her case. I prescribed for her three or four weeks prior to her death. I was also accused of the death of Adelaide Hand by means of malpractice. [A paper was shown “Dr.” O'Donnell, with his signature, address, office-hours, and stating that he was a graduate of Dartmouth, N. H., May, 1850.] At first O'Donnell denied knowing whether it was his sig- nature or not, but he afterwards admitted that he had wriiten it in fun. A young lady (whose name we omit), testified that she knew O'Donnell by sight, having seen him when he attended Mrs. Hand. She staid with Mrs. Hand during her sickness, and was at her bed- side when she died. Mrs. Hand told her that O'Donnell performed an operation on her. O'Donnell had prescribed hot fomentations applied to the abdomen. Dr. A. S. Ferris, being sworn, testified: I have been practicing here about ten years. I was called to examine a woman named Hand. in 1871. She died the same night. The conclusion I formed was, that death had been caused by unlawful practices. Dr. Robert F. Chase testified: I have practiced medicine ir this State since 1853. I was called to attend Mrs. Adelaide Hand, and found her in a dying condition. I saw O'Donnell there, and asked him if he had charge of the case. He replied that he had. I asked him if had subjected the patient to unlawful treatment, and he made an evasive reply. I was convinced from the symptoms that the patient was dying from the effects of an unlawful operation. Wesley Young, sworn: I reside on Stockton Street. I have known O'Donnell by sight since 1863. I am a sack manufacturer. b In the year 1863 a woman named Mollie Raymond, otherwise known 1s Mrs. Young, residing at the corner of Jackson and Dupont Streets, was operated on by Dr. O'Donnell with instruments. 1 vas resp and saw the operation. I accompanied the woman to O'Donnell’s ii the operation she complained of severe pain. The result of the operation was the birth of a child, alive before the operation, but was dead when delivered by O'Donnell. I was present ab the time. O'Donnell and myself buried the birth in a vacant lot on Qreenwich Street. The only persons present at this funeral were O'Donnell and myself. 0’ Donnell conveyed the body to the place of burial in a box that I sent the Chinaman to a grocery store to ges. In 1870 TI accompanied my former wife, now divorced, to O'Don- nell’s office for a similar operation. 1 saw the operation performed. It was not successful, and the intended victim is now alive and Sh eight years of age. [Much of this witness testimony is unfit for publication. ] T W. Freelon, Judge of the Municipal Court of Appeals, testi- fies: I was acting as District Attorney when O'Donnell ii in- dicted for murder by the Grand Jury. I never said that O'Donnell was honorably acquitted, as was testified to by him, nor was any such remark made by Judge McKinstry. Mrs. Julia A. Curtis.sworn: I was proprietress of the Crimm House in 1866-67. O'Donnell had apartments in the house, which he had rented previous to my occupation. O'Donnell acted as : physician, and there were women in the house treated by, him. : believe that his patients were under assumed names. I suspecte the nature of O'Donnell’s practic> when women came to the huss, and when I found they were under his treatment I paid them back their rent and asked them to leave. I suspected what he was treat- ing them for, as I knew his reputation as an abortions. Dr. L. P. Gautier testifies: I was practicing medicine in this city in 1870, and in that year 1 was called to attend a French woman named Chauvet, on Fourth Street. She died from the effect of an operation, an abortion. At the post-mortem examination I found that instruments had been used. I told the woman that he was dying, and told her mother to send for a priest. When I saw o in a dying condition, she said that O'Donnell had operated upon " and that Dr. 8. M. Cohen (the astrologer) had given her medicine. 3 thought it a most wonderful thing that O'Donnell was not, Bag for this crime. The woman knew that she was dying when she made these statements, and she several times repeated them. 6 MR. A. A. COHEN'S ARGUMENT. I undertake to say that no man ever asked relief from a court of Justice that was less entitled to it than Chas. C. O'Donnell. I say that very few worse men than O Donnell have ever fiyuii .. as defendant before this or any other court of criminal jurisdiction. I say that it is not often there are more guilty men than O'Donnell leave the dock of a court for the penitentiary or the gallows. I say that the penitentiary of this State holds few men, and per- haps none, who are more debased wretches than Chas. C. O'Donnell. A clear case has been made out that he i$ a professional and notorious abortionist. Judge Ferral remarked: I have no intention, in this case, to review the testimony. I will only say that it is abhorrent and dis- gusting in its details. Tt is enough for me to state my conclusions without going into details, or saying what portions of the testimony I believe or disbelieve. I am thoroughly satisfied, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that my duty is to dismiss these defendants (Chronicle); that it would be an insult to the intelligence of the Grand J ury to send a case to them or to a trial Jury, to ask them to convict the de- fendants (Chronicle) of the crime of libel, if it was submitted to them under an indictment. So holding, it is of com se my duty to dismiss the case and discharge the defendants. VERDICT OF THE CORONER'S JURY. Coroner Letterman issued the following certificate: Adelaide Hand, native of Connecticut, age twenty, came to her death by means of peritonitis, consequence of an abortion produced by C. C. O'Donnell, on or about the 20th of J anuary, 1871. Eugenie Chauvet, age twenty-two, native of Louisiana, met her death through inflamma- tion or hemorrhage, consequent upon an abortion produced by C. C. O'Donnell and S. M. Cohen on November 10th, 1870. The following resolution was presented to the Consti- tutional Convention by Clitus Barbour, on Satur- day, December 28th, 1878: Whereas, Charles C. O'Donnell, a member of this recently been publicly charged with the commission of infamous crimes, Convention, has po { which unfit him to sit as a member of this Convention, oi Sharpen purport to be based upon sworn ay taken in a Court of tice, i lar course of judicial proceeding: : - in Se Resolved, That a Committee be pn hy he oo : > ident, whose duty it shall be to examine into such © a be proof and support thereof, and report the facts to this wil o ie soon as practicable ; and said Committee shall have power for persons and papers. In accordance with this resolution, Clitus Barbour of wih cisco, Filcher of Placer, and Shurtleff of Shasta were appointed as ) such committee. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. Clitus Barbour submitted the report reciting the facts Ww in the trials in San Francisco, the petty subterfuges indul > i ; y O'Donnell since the investigations were ordered, his joss one » sions of meetings appointed by OS ea boa gt it i cramento, his utter and comple a : hp and bio evident desire to postpone any feta either in the courts or before the eararnlsine, and sum Wo a he judgment of the committee the accused © Donnell) bos 82 gn to be of such a character as to make him an unfit puss 0 oo seat in the Convention, and submitted a resolution for his expu. . Dated January 6th, 1879. ( ; 's Cl 2d of Second Ward Workingmen’s Club, on the a $ 79, walle O Donnell from their club. [From S. F. Bulletin, October 29th, 1884.] THE PARADOX OF THE LOCAL FIGHT. jeve that Dr. C. C. O'Donnell will be elected Mey ee County of San Francisco. Dr. O Donel) i andidate whom the people of this city, or any consider- Li Ey of them, would select under ordinary Cro a hat i ortant office. But it is said that he has not been pu Br be Po Boss, and if he is elected, it will be merely 5 ex- is t id public disgust at Boss rule. We submit that this ¥ Pe 3 r way for a respectable community to exhibit its resen hl Fe the nominees of the Bosses be distasteful to elect, Jer sy till more doubtful candidate is not the way to rebuke these bones There is no moral power in that sort of work. It is 5 rw say that if the Bosses do wrong, the community will do i Publis evils are not corrected by that method. There is aL in it but an exhibition of cynicism that will do no good. END ~ OF TITLE