On November 16, 1842, Mary Ann White died at 48 years of age of Chronic Peritonitis. This very painful condition was incurable before the advent of antibiotics. One common manner for a woman to die of this condition was a botched abortion. Some deaths are recorded as caused by an abortion, but more often they are labeled as “Peritonitis.” For more on the subject please see – When Abortion Was a Crime: Women, Medicine, and Law in the United States, by Leslie J. Reagan.
Ms. White lived in Barley Street, really an alley, in the Queen Village neighborhood of the city. Barley is now Waverly Street. Below is a photo of this ally as it currently looks.
Photo/T. Buckalew
Bethel Burying Ground Project 