Miss Kitty Exline's fatal attempt at abortion

The family's version of what happened to Mary "Kitty" Exline, age 19, back in August of 1877 is inscribed on a small modern stone at her grave in Appanoose County's Exline Cemetery --- "Murdered in Exline, Ia."

The stone has been installed next to a repaired but indecipherable original on the lot of her parents, David and Sarah Exline, founding parents of the village southeast of Centerville that bears their surname today. It was known as Caldwell at the time of Kitty's death. 

The circumstances of the death were sensational enough to generate widespread newspaper coverage that originated with the Centerville newspapers. Unfortunately, no copies of those newspapers for that year survive, so information reprinted in other newspapers, both in Iowa and elsewhere, is our only source.

The earliest report of the death I found was published in The Burlington Hawkeye of Aug. 28, as follows:

"A terrible murder was committed Sunday night at Caldwell, Iowa, a station on the B.&S.W.R..R. The victim was a daughter of David Exline, station agent on the road at that place, aged 18 years. She left home Sunday, after supper, to visit a neighbor. Her body was found yesterday morning in a stable in the village. It seems as though her death was caused by being struck on the head with a club, and her neck had a bruised appearance, as though she had been choked. No clue to the murderer, nor no cause for the act, could be discovered."

A few days later, on Sept. 5, a follow-up report was published in The Ottumwa Weekly Courier:

"Investigation into the case of the death of Kitty Exline, who was found dead in a stable at Caldwell, near Centerville, the other day, leaves the question in doubt as to whether it was a case of suicide or murder. Her death was produced by some kind of narcotic poison but whether it was administered by her own hand or by someone else cannot be determined. She was enceinte, and a young man who has been on very intimate terms with her is suspected of having had something to do with the poisoning." 

On that same date, The Chariton Patriot contained this brief report:

"Miss Kitty Exline, of Caldwell City, Appanoose county, was found dead a week ago in a neighbor's barn. It was first thought she had been murdered, but a post mortem examination revealed that she had been poisoned by ergot taken to produce an abortion."

I found no further published mentions of Mary's death, so I'm assuming that no one was charged --- and that the Patriot report was accurate. 

It's difficult to image a time when contraception was not readily available, abortion was illegal and women who were single and pregnant were scorned ....