Not-so-good old days

Another tale of the seamier side of life in the first quarter of the last century. From the Norway Advertiser of May 30, 1924:

Andover Murder Case

The trial of Leander Thurlow and Mrs. Emma Lufkin of Andover for the murder of an infant girl alleged to have been born January 22 of this year, opened Monday. Some time was spent empaneling a traverse jury that comprises W. E. Bartlett of Bethel, foreman; Leslie Simmons of Dixfield; H. L. Walker of Waterford; W. P. McKeen, Stowe; E. G. Warren of Upton; Clarence Buck, Norway; Lewis A. Harmon and E. W. Sturtevant, Peru; J. M. Wilkie, Oxford; W. B. Pillsbury, Rumford; E. J. Barker, Stoneham; and W. H. Packard, Hebron.

The state was represented by County Attorney Hugh Hastings of Fryeburg, who outlined the case to the jury as follows:

“He stated that Leander Thurlow and Mrs. Emma Lufkin went to Andover, where they occupied the house belonging to Charles Smith, then on the afternoon of Jan. 22 Dr. Wallace Somerville was called to the Thurlow home, where he found Mrs. Lufkin about to give birth to a child. He attended Mrs. Lufkin, who gave birth to a female child. Thurlow then told the doctor to keep still about the birth, and was told by Dr. Somerville that he had better take care of the child or he might land in Thomaston. The statement by the physician was made because of the actions of Thurlow around the crib in which the infant was lying. Mrs. Lufkin is said to have stated that it was her 13th child.

On Jan. 24 Dr. Somerville was going to the Thurlow house to see how the mother and child were getting along, but was met by Thurlow who said that the child had died and that Mrs. Lufkin was getting along all right.

Some days later Charles Smith, who was Thurlow’s employer, told Thurlow that he understood he was a father. Thurlow denied the allegation, and offered to bet $100 that Smith could not find a baby in the house.

Three days later Smith told Thurlow that the birth had been recorded and the respondent defied Smith to find the records. Dr. Somerville had recorded the birth at the town clerk’s office. During the first part of April the town clerk went over the records and in checking up the births called at the Thurlow house.

Mrs. Lufkin came to the door and denied having given birth to the child. When asked if she had not said it was her 13th child, she made no reply.

Thurlow is then thought to have learned of the investigations on the case and moved from Andover to the Barrett house. With the aid of Barrett and his son-in-law Miller, the respondent removed his furniture from the Smith house with the exception of the stove in which the bones were found later. When asked by his helpers why he did not take the stove, he replied, “To Hell with the stove. It’s no good.”

The next incident was the arrest of Thurlow and Mrs. Lufkin, and the statement by Thurlow that the child had died and he had buried it in the cellar. After his confession the bones were found in the stove and sent to Bowdoin College to be examined by Dr, Whittier who pronounced them to be those of an infant.

At the conclusion of the outline, the jury, respondents, County Attorney Hastings, and defense counsel visited the Smith house where the bones were found.

The next issue of the Advertiser, published June 6, 1924, reported the verdict.

Sentenced to Imprisonment for Life

The Andover child murder case was settled Thursday in the Supreme Judicial Court at Rumford, when Mrs. Emma Lufkin and Leander Thurlow were sentenced by Judge Luere B. Deasey to life imprisonment at Thomaston. The jury were out two hours and returned a verdict of murder in the first degree.

The state charged murder in the death of the infant girl while the defense endeavored to show death by natural causes, and remarks alleged to have been made by Mrs. Lufkin, the mother, to be incited by mental disturbances due to her nervous condition. The defense also suggested that the infant’s death might have been caused by shock from being wrapped in a cold cloth directly after birth.

Dr. Frank N. Whittier of Bowdoin College gave testimony in regard to the bones found in the stove and sent him for examination.

Medical testimony to show mental condition after childbirth was given by Dr. A. L. Stanwood of Chicopee Falls, Mass., formerly of Rumford, Dr. H. W. Stanwood and Dr. J. A. Nile of Rumford, Dr. R. R. Tibbetts of Bethel and Dr. Forest C. Tyson, superintendent of the State Hospital in Augusta.

Several witnesses gave testimony regarding Mrs. Lufkin’s mental condition and predisposition to insanity.

The state was represented by Attorney General Ransforth W. Swan and County Attorney Hugh Hastings, George A. Hutchins and Peter McDonald appeared for appeared for the respondents.

As is our custom, we try to exactly reproduce the grammar, spelling, punctuation and style of the original. Commas might appear where least expected and remain absent where we’d expect them if the item was written nowadays. On the other hand, consistency was not considered of utmost importance, so variations of a spelling might appear within one story. In addition, some words were abbreviated differently than today.

Where brief explanations of terms are considered necessary, they are presented in brackets [] within the quote. Otherwise, explanations appear at the beginning or at the conclusion, without quotes. Parenthesis () used in a quoted passage appeared in the original.