In the city of Ogdensburg in 1872 there was an unfortunate murder that happened to a woman that could have easily been avoided. This is a bit of a controversial topic so consider yourself warned. 

The year was 1872 and Maria Shay was pronounced dead and was a victim of an abortion gone wrong. Who was Maria Shay? Maria was a female originally from Morrisburg NY. She moved to Waddington NY where she lived for several years giving her this connection to Ogdensburg and the murder that occurred. After living in Waddington for a while she then packed up and moved to Pennsylvania for a bit where she lived with her sister in 1871. She got into a little bit of a bind when down there and decided to take the Rome Railroad back to the North Country on March 7th, 1871 five months pregnant and enough cash on hand to have the abortion. When she arrived in town it was reported by you guessed it the St Lawrence Republican that she went straight to the Baldwin House with the intent of producing a miscarriage. She was instructed upon arrival to send a note to Dr. McMonagle. Dr McMonagle, who is he? Funny you might ask let's give a little history on this guy.

Peter Reid McMonagle worked with Evariste Mongeon a Canadian physician who many people didn’t really know. McMonagle on the other hand yeah people knew him. He made headlines a couple of years earlier when was indicted on charges of manslaughter in the abortion death of Mrs June Hubbard of Ogdensburg. Apparently, there was a lack of evidence and or witnesses and he was acquitted. Not only was he acquitted but he was congratulated right after and they actually threw a party for him. The St Lawrence Republican said that Saturday evening the dr arrived home in this city and was serenaded by his friends who employed the Oswegatchie band for that purpose. So he gets off of a murder and two years later he finds himself in another abortion murder case. 

Miss Shay who’s at the Baldwin house wrote the note and then was called on Mrs A Allen to go to Miss Shay’s room at the house and have an interview. After the interview, it was decided that Shay would go to Mrs. Allen's house the next day and stay there until the following Friday. They were staying over a store on the corner of River and Lake Street. In which current day it appears the building is still there and in not the greatest shape from the outside in an area of the city that is in ROUGH shape. Dr McMonagle would visit the victim at this place Friday, March 15th, 1872, and accepted a payment of 500 dollars for introducing the victim to Dr Mongeon who was going to do the operation. With inflation 500 dollars then would be almost 12,000 today. After he visited and accepted the money Dr McMonagle had nothing else to do with Miss Shay. 

It was noted that abortionists have held high sway in Ogdensburg for some time. The actions of those people had a huge effect on the public perception and reputation of all the medical fields. That didn’t stop people from out of town that often desperately traveled to Ogdensburg via train and anything else to take care of the illicit matters. Sadly due to the nature of the beast incidents like Miss Shay did occur. 

NY did have abortion laws that went into effect in 1830 when an attempt to induce abortion at any stage of pregnancy whether it was drugs or instruments was considered a punishable act and would call for a year in prison as it was considered second-degree manslaughter. There was an exception in NY that if abortion was clearly necessary to save the life of a woman as advised by two doctors then it was deemed ok. In 1845 the law was amended to make the pregnancy woman who knowingly submitted to an abortion guilty of a misdemeanor. In 1881 the law was further amended to make both the woman and doctor guilty of manslaughter if an abortion was performed after the quickening which was usually between the 14 and 21 weeks of pregnancy. It's likely that Maria Shay had already experienced quickening. 

Mongeon and several female witnesses were questioned in the death of Shay. McGonagall left town before shit hit the fan and he would be questioned. His absence left him open to unchallenged libel and slander from the other guilty parties. 

There was then a shocking revelation that Shay was actually pregnant with twins because at the time of the autopsy, she had a five-month-old fetus inside her and it was claimed that she had given birth in the street between the post office and the bridge.

After questioning  Dr Mongeon was taken directly into custody to await trial.  The evidence against him was said to be indisputable especially after the autopsy report was released. Some of the reports that came from this incident are absolutely disgusting. It was reported that Shay paid 30 dollars more to provide the unlawful service. According to the St Lawrence Republican article, Mongeon finished the job and delivered a stillborn infant the next day. They placed it in a cigar box, attached some bricks, and threw it in a canal. He admitted that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the procedure. Miss Shay’s health rapidly declined and eventually led to her death. Mongeon then realized he messed up and reportedly tried to sway witnesses with threats and they held strong and refused. 

The jury didn’t need much time to find him guilty and he was sentenced to 5 years in Dannemora prison because he was only convicted of procuring or assisting to procure an abortion and was not charged with the murder of Miss Shay and or her twins. The residents of Ogdensburg attempted to secure his early release but the supreme court held up and he served his time. He was released on January 23rd, 1877. McGonagall was never charged for his role in the murder. He moved to Prescott Ontair right across the river immediately after Miss Shays's death living and maintaining a respectable person in society. 

“A really strong woman accepts the war she went through and is ennobled by her scars” Carly Simon

Listen to the full episode anywhere you get your podcasts.

https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/1l4XvjP68VMLsgdFvMnLtV?utm_source=generator