Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, of Tower City, a notorious abortionist with no known medical training, admitted to performing an abortion on Elsie Drumm, which resulted in her death in 1938. Mrs. Zimmerman was given a short jail sentence but released on parole. While on parole she performed another abortion, this time on Mae Klinger, a victim of an incestuous rape. The father of the girl, Charles Klinger, plead guilty to incestuous rape and was sentenced from nine to 18 months in the county prison. During Mrs. Zimmerman’s trial on the Klinger abortion charge, a neighbor testified to a fictitious alibi, which the jury believed and acquitted Mrs. Zimmerman. This resulted in an extraordinary rebuke from the judge who tried the case. He then charged county detectives to investigate what resulted in the acquittal. The detectives discovered perjury and charged the neighbor, Cyrus Marks, with perjury and Mrs. Zimmerman and her husband Harry Zimmerman with subornation of perjury. Meanwhile a third woman came forward accusing Mrs. Zimmerman of performing an illegal operation on her. The two trials – perjury and abortion – took place on the same days in January 1939, but in different court rooms. On both charges Mrs. Zimmerman was found guilty. She was given a indefinite term of incarceration.
Some of the headlines from one of the most sensational abortion cases in the history of the Lykens Valley area are shown at the top of this post.
The Pennsylvania Death Certificate of Elsie Drumm, for her death on August 17, 1937, is shown above. Cause of Death: Peritonitis, Infected Abortion (Criminal), 2 1/2 to 3 Month Pregnancy.
The Elsie Zimmerman abortion cases are told here on this blog through local and area newspapers of the time. Included also are the related trials and convictions of Harry Zimmerman, Elsie’s husband, for subornation of perjury; Charles Klinger, the man who “betrayed” his daughter; and Cyrus Marks, who perjured himself in the second abortion trial of Mrs. Zimmerman.
Care must be taken in accepting all statements made in the newspapers as fact — in particular, the Shamokin News-Dispatch, which seemed to get it wrong as to who died and as a result of what. Mae Klinger did not die as a result of the rape by her father or as a result of the abortion performed on her by Mrs. Klinger, and although the third trial was for Mrs. Zimmerman performing an abortion, there is no record that the woman died as a result of that operation.
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From the Sunbury Daily Item, August 17, 1937:
WOMAN JAILED FOR ILEGAL OPERATION
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, Tower City, is being held by authorities charged with performing an illegal operation upon Miss Elsie Drumm, 35, of Muir, Schuylkill County, who is in serious condition at a Pottsville hospital suffering from peritonitis.
When taken into custody, Mrs. Zimmerman is said to have told detectives she performed the operation “to help a friend.” She said she was paid $25, they declared.
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From the Pottsville Republican, August 18, 1937:
DIES AT HOSPITAL, WOMAN HELD IN DEATH
John I. Ferns, county detective, stated on Wednesday at noon that he would re-arrest Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, Colliery Aveune, Tower City, during the day on charges of abortion followed by death. The victim was Elsie Drumm, of Muir, who died at the Warne Hospital Tuesday night. Mrs. Zimmerman was under $1,000 bail set by Squire Kauffman last Saturday on abortion charges and held for a further hearing pending the outcome of the illness.
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From the Sunbury Daily Item, August 19, 1937:
ILLEGAL OPERATION FATAL; WOMAN HELD
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, 36, Tower City, was arrested yesterday afternoon on a charge of causing the death by abortion of Miss Elsie Drumm, 35, of Muir, who succumbed to peritonitis. He was held under $1,000 bond for court on a formal hearing.
Dr. B. C Blaine, deputy Schuylkill County coroner, performed an autopsy, and said he will conduct an inquest.
In an alleged confession, Mrs. Zimmerman said she performed the operation “to help a friend.” She had been taken into custody before Miss Drumm’s death.
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From the Shamokin News-Dispatch, August 19, 1937:
MURDER CHARGED AGAINST SUSPECT
Schuylkill County authorities are preparing to bring new charges against Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, Tower City, who was arrested several days ago on charges of having performed an illegal operation on Miss Elsie Drumm, 36, of Muir, near Tremont. She was held under $1,000 on the initial charge.
Since the first arrest, Miss Drumm expired on a Pottsville Hospital and authorities plan to charge Mrs. Zimmerman with having caused the woman’s death.
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From the West Schuylkill Herald, August 20, 1937:
ELSIE M. DRUMM DIES AT WARNE HOSPITAL TUESDAY EVENING
Miss Elsie Mae Drum, 35, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Drumm, of Muir, died at the Warne Hospital, Pottsville, on Tuesday evening at 7:25 o’clock. Her death was caused by peritonitis and hemorrhages. Several blood transfusions were made shortly before her death in a futile attempt to save her life.
Miss Drum was born at Muir on July 3, 1902, and was a resident of this vicinity all her life. Besides her parents she is survived by one brother, William Drum, of Muir, and six sisters, Minnie Drum, Eva Drum, Dorothy Drum, Helen Drum, Vesta Drum and Josephine Drum. Two sisters, Beulah Drum and Mrs. Lottie Lenninger, preceded her in death.
Funeral services will be held Saturday morning at 10 o’clock from the home of her parents at Muir. After a brief service at the house by Rev. W. E. Hemmig, of Tremont, interment will be made in the Lutheran and reformed cemetery at Orwin and further services will be conducted in St. Peter’s Lutheran Church at Reinerton, of which the deceased was an active member.
Funeral director Dreisigacker has charge.
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From the Sunbury Daily Item, September 2, 1937:
WOMAN INDICTED
Elsie Zimmerman, Tower City, charged with performing an illegal operation that resulted in the death of Elsie Drumm, was indicted by the grand jury in Schuylkill County Court and will stand trial in November.
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From the Pottsville Republican, September 21, 1937:
TRUE BILLS
Elsie Zimmerman, Tower City, abortion on Elsie Drumm of Porter Township, followed by death.
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From the Pottsville Republican, January 7, 1938:
TOWER CITY OPERATION CASE CALLED TO TRIAL
A jury was selected on Friday at noon to try Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman of Tower City, on charges of abortion followed by death. John I. Ferns, county detective, charged that on July 19, 1937, the defendant performed an illegal operation on Miss Elsie Drumm, 35, Muir, with death resulting. R. A. Freiler, assistant district attorney, represents the commonwealth, with ex-Judge Roy P. Hicks and G. Harold Watkins appearing for the defendant.
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From the Pottsville Republican, January 8, 1938:
MOTHER HYSTERICAL WHEN SENTENCED TO 6 MONTHS FOR TOWER CITY ABORTION
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, 36, Tower City, mother of an 11 month old child, was sentenced to serve from six months to two years in prison and fined $25 and the costs late Friday afternoon by Judge Houck after she pleaded guilty to abortion charges.
The woman became hysterical in the court room and cried out for her 11 month old child that was in the audience. Several deputy sheriffs were required to remove the woman to prison and on the road over the artificial leg of the woman became unhooked and added further complications to the long trek to the prison.
John I. Ferns, former county detective arrested the woman after Miss Elsie Drumm, 35, of Muir, informed him that Mrs. Zimmerman had performed an illegal operation on her. Miss Drumm died on July 19, 1937.
The defendant who was married for 17 years informed the court that she was paid $25 for the operation and claimed that it was the first one she ever ever attempted and just took a chance.
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From the Pottsville Republican & Herald, January 8, 1938:
ABORTIONIST SENTENCED
Stating that abortion was a serious crime and by no means justifiable, Judge Henry Houck yesterday afternoon sentenced Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, of Tower City, to serve not less than six months for more than two years in the county prison.
After a jury had been drawn the defendant pleaded guilty to attempted abortion upon Elsie Drumm, of Muir. The alleged attempt too place on June 18, 1937, and the woman died a few days later at the Warne Hospital, Pottsville.
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From the Sunbury Daily Item, January 10, 1938:
WOMAN SENT TO PRISON
Elsie Zimmerman, Tower City, pleading guilt to a charge of attempted abortion, was sentenced to serve from six months to two years imprisonment in Schuylkill county court at Pottsville Friday. The woman was arrested following the death of Elsie Drum, of Muir, last August 1 [1937], of peritonitis.
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From the Shamokin News-Dispatch, January 10, 1938:
WOMAN JAILED FOR ILLEGAL SURGERY
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, 36, of Tower City, mother of an 11-month old child, pleaded guilty before Judge Henry Houck in Schuylkill County Court at Pottsville to charges of having performed an illegal operation and was sentenced to serve six months in jail, pay a fine of $25 and costs of prosecution.
County Detective John Ferns, prosecutor in the case, informed the court Mrs. Zimmerman had performed a criminal operation on Miss Elsie Drumm, 35, or Muir, near Tower City, resulting in the Drumm woman’s death in July of last year.
Mrs. Zimmerman was represented by counsel, who called attention to the fact the woman is crippled, having suffered the amputation of a leg a number of years ago and also the tender age of her youngest child. The court stated that there was no alternative under the law than to impose the prison sentence.
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From the West Schuylkill Herald, April 8, 1938:
LETTERS GRANTED
Letters were granted by Register Jenkins, to Jacob Drumm, of Porter Township, upon the estate of Elsie Drumm, of that place, who died on August 17 of last year.
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From the Pottsville Republican & Herald, April 18, 1938:
FATHER SERIOUSLY CHARGED
Charles Klinger, aged 42, of Muir, is being held in the county prison on charges of incestuous rape, being the alleged father of a child born to his daughter Mae Klinger, aged 22. The body of the dead child was found in a creek near Muir Saturday by fishermen.
Another sensational angle to the case is that an abortion was performed, and according to County Detectives Louis Buono, the girl has admitted the operation was performed by Elsie Zimmerman, of Tower City, who is out on parole on a similar charge. The Zimmerman woman has been again charged with abortion and is being held under bail for trial on those charges.
It was at first thought that murder charges would grow out of an autopsy of the child’s body but an autopsy revealed no water in the lungs and that the child had been still-born.
Judge Houck sentenced the Zimmerman woman, the mother of several children, to serve six months, but later paroled her. The father of the girl is also charged with accessory before abortion.
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From the Sunbury Daily Item, April 19, 1938:
FATHER GRAVELY CHARGED
Charles Klinger, 42, of Muir is being held in the Schuylkill county jail on a charge of incestuous rape, being the alleged father of a child born to his daughter, Mae Klinger, 22. The body of the child was found in a creek near Muir Saturday. At the same time Elsie Zimmerman of Tower City, now under parole on a similar charge, is being held for performing an abortion.
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From the Lykens Standard, April 22, 1938:
SERIOUS CHARGE INVOLVES TWO TOWER CITY RESIDENTS
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, 36, West Colliery Street, Tower City, was placed under $1,500 bail on abortion charges, and Charles Klinger, of Tower City, was committed to the Schuylkill County jail on charges of incestuous rape and accessory to the fact of abortion by Squire John G. Trout, of Tower City on Monday. Yesterday morning Klinger was released following the posting of $2,500 bail.
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From the Lykens Standard, June 10, 1938:
INDICT TOWER CITY WOMAN
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, 36, Tower City, paroled on February 21, 1938, for the balance of her unexpired sentence of from six months to two years, meted out on January 7, 1938, on abortion charge, was indicted late Monday by the June term, grand jury again on abortion charges brought by L. D. Buono, chief of the county detectives.
Mrs. Zimmerman was freed after having served a month and a half in prison following an appeal to the court that her infant would die if its mother were not returned.
Charles Klinger, 46, Tower City, was indicted on charges as an accessory.
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From the Pottsville Republican & Herald, September 16, 1938:
BEFORE JUDGE HOUCK
Elsie Zimmerman, of Tower City, is on trial before Judge Henry Houck charged with performing an abortion on a young woman of that town.
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From the Pottsville Republican, September 17, 1938:
JUDGE REBUKES JURY FOR ACQUITTAL VERDICT
In a verdict branded by Pres. Judge Henry Houck as one of the most outrageous ever returned in the Schuylkill County courts, Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, 36, Tower City, was acquitted of two abortion charges. The verdict was returned at 5:15 Friday afternoon to Judge Houck, who waited until the jury agreed.
The victim testified that Mrs. Zimmerman demanded $100 for the operation but accepted $90.
The defendant, who has an artificial leg, did not take the stand in her own defense. However, a boarder at her home and two neighbors testified that on the night the Klinger girls was not in the house, because on that night in question the small child of the defendant suffered from a heart attack and the neighbors and the boarder were up all night.
Judge Houck in scoring the jury for their verdict informed them that just last January the defendant appeared in court and pleaded guilty to similar charges which resulted in the death of the victim. Mrs. Zimmerman served several weeks and was placed on parole for two years after a doctor testified that her baby daughter would die if its mother was not returned to it. The child died three weeks ago. Attorney Vincent J. Dalton, of Pottsville, represented the acquitted woman.
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From the Pottsville Republican & Herald, September 17, 1938:
JURY IS REBUKED
Characterizing the verdict as disgraceful, dastardly and the worst miscarriage of justice witnessed by him during his career as a lawyer and judge, President Judge Henry Houck shortly before 5 o’clock yesterday afternoon delivered a scathing rebuke to the members of the jury that acquitted Elsie Zimmerman. one-legged Tower City woman, of charges of performing an abortion. Never in the history of the county courts was a jury quite so severely scolded.
“This verdict is disgraceful, dastardly and the worst miscarriage of justice I have ever witnessed,” snapped Judge Houck as the members of the jury stood before him. “This woman was guilty beyond all reasonable doubt. She has previously pleaded guilty to a similar charge and is under parole for that offenses,” said Judge Houck.
The trial of Elsie Zimmerman attracted wide-spread interest in the southern and western part of the county. The testimony, lasting two days, was taken before crowded court rooms and was marked by numerous clashes between counsel. The jury deliberated less than an hour and a half. Judge Houck waited at the court house to receive the verdict.
The defendant was charged with attempting to perform an abortion on a young girl of Tower City. The girl’s father is charged with rape and assisting and aiding the abortion. It is alleged by the Commonwealth that the father is the parent of the unborn child of his daughter. He has been arrested on these charges. This matter was not presented to the jury although defense counsel had the father admit on the witness stand that he stood charged with both offenses.
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From the Shamokin News-Dispatch, September 19, 1928:
JURY ASSAILED FOR ACQUITTING REGION WOMAN
DEFENDANT FREED ON CHARGES OF PERFORMING FATAL OPERATION
Judge Henry Houck pounded the bar of justice in wrath and then began one of the most scathing reprimands of a jury ever heard in Schuylkill County court when the jury returned a verdict acquitting Elsie Zimmerman, 31, on charges of performing a criminal operation resulting in the death of May Klinger of Tower City.
Judge Houck told the jury it had perpetrated the greatest miscarriage of justice in Schuylkill County in many years. The court told the jury that at the time the Zimmerman woman had caused the death of Miss Klinger, she was on probation for a similar offense and that all evidence in the case, including the death-bed statement of the victim, was ample to result in immediate conviction.
After his reprimand Judge Houck indicated court officers would begin an immediate investigation into the facts leading up to the wholly unexpected acquittal of the Zimmerman woman, and inferred further charged will be preferred against what he termed “a habitual offender against the laws of society.”
On the occasion of a previous arraignment on charges of having caused the death of a Muir woman following an illegal operation, Elsie Zimmerman pleaded guilty and was given a jail sentence. She was paroled after serving six months and a short time later was arrested for the death of the Klinger girl.
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From the Sunbury Daily Item, September 19, 1938:
EXCORIATES JURY
A jury in Schuylkill County court was flayed by Judge Henry Houck Saturday after finding not guilty Elsie Zimmerman of Tower City, charged with performing an illegal operation. The court termed the verdict “outrageous” and a “miscarriage of justice” pointing out that the acquitted woman is at present on parole from a six months to one year sentence for some kind of offense.
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From the Pottsville Republican, September 19, 1938:
TOWER CITY MAN GETS NINE MONTHS
Charles Klinger, 42, Tower City, married and the father of six living children, one of whom is serving in the U. S. Marine Corps, was sent to prison by Judge Paul on Monday for a term of from nine to 18 months ad fined $25 and costs.
Klinger pleaded guilty to incestuous rape and to having been an accessory before the fact of abortion.
In view of the fact that Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman of Tower City, was acquitted by a jury of seven women and five men last Friday evening, the court only imposed the payment of the costs on the defendant in the abortion charge. L. D. Buono, chief of the county detectives, was the prosecutor.
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From the Pottsville Republican & Herald, September 19, 1938:
FATHER PLEADS GUILTY
Charles Klinger, aged 42, Tower City, this morning pleaded guilty to incestuous rape upon his daughter and also to being an accessory before an operation performed upon his daughter. Judge Paul sentenced the father to serve not less than nine months or more than 18 months on the rape charge, directed that he pay the costs and a fine of $25. He suspended sentence in the accessory before the abortion charge.
This is the case in which Elsie Zimmerman, of Tower City, was acquitted before Judge Houck on charges of performing an abortion and resulted in Judge Houck rebuking the jury when he called the verdict the most disgraceful in the history of the county courts.
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From the Shamokin News-Dispatch, September 20, 1938:
MAN SENTENCED FOR BETRAYAL OF YOUNG GIRL
FATHER PLEADS GUILTY TO CHARGE OF INCESTUOUS RAPE
Charles Klinger, 45, of near Tower City, pleaded guilty yesterday before Judge Harold Paul in Criminal Court in Schuylkill County to charges of incestuous rape on a young daughter and was sentenced to serve from nine to 18 months in the county prison.
Klinger was charged with having been an accessory to the death of his daughter following a criminal operation alleged to have been performed by Elsie Zimmerman, 31, of Tower City, who was acquitted last week. The court scathingly reprimanded the jury for a miscarriage of justice in acquitting the woman, who had been convicted on a previous charge for abortion and was on parole at the time of the Klinger girl’s death.
During his arraignment Klinger admitted having betrayed his daughter and having been an accessory in her death in association with the Zimmerman woman. He told the court he is married, the father of five children, and is unemployed. Until four weeks ago he was employed as a miner at Brookside Colliery, which recently suspended operation.
Judge Paul handed Klinger one of the most stinging reprimands ever heard in Schuylkill County Court. In sentencing the man, the court passed sentence for the betrayal and suspended sentence on the more serious charge of having been an accessory in the girl’s death, pending further legal action against the Zimmerman woman.
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From the Sunbury Daily Item, September 21, 1938:
BETRAYER SENTENCED
Charged with a criminal assault on his young daughter, Charles Klinger, 49, of near Tower City was sentenced in Schuylkill County Court Tuesday to serve from nine to eighteen months in jail. Klinger was charged with having been an accessory to the death of his daughter following a criminal operation. He is the father of five children.
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From the Pottsville Republican, September 29, 1938:
$1,000 BAIL ON PERJURY CHARGE
Cyrus Marks, of West Colliery Avenue, Tower City, entered bail in the sum of $1,000 before Squire John G. Trout at Tower City, on Wednesday evening to await the action of the grand jury on charges of perjury brought by L. D. Buono and Bruce Clayton, county detectives. Marks’ arrest is the aftermath of the trial of Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman at the September term of court. Mrs. Zimmerman was acquitted of abortion charges.
District Attorney C. A. Whitehouse ordered his county detectives to make an investigation of Marks after he took the witness stand for Mrs. Zimmerman, his neighbor, and testified that on the night Mrs. Zimmerman was alleged to have performed an illegal operation that he was in her home until early the next morning because Mrs. Zimmerman’s child was sick, and during all of that time the victim of the operation was not at the house.
Detectives Buono and Clayton stated on Thursday that their investigation disclosed the information that on the very night Marks claims he was at the Zimmerman home the records of Brookside Colliery show that he was at work.
Mr. Zimmerman, who was held under $7,500 bail set by Judge Houck on Wednesday on a third abortion charge which allegedly took place just three weeks before she was called to trial on a similar charge, was still in prison late Thursday as friends could only raise $2,000 bail up until that time for her release.
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From the Shamokin News-Dispatch, September 29, 1938:
WOMAN HELD ON SERIOUS CHARGE
DEFENDANT ACCUSED OF PERFORMING ILLEGAL OPERATION
Elsie Zimmerman, 31, of Tower City, was arrested yesterday by detectives Louis Buono and Bruce Clayton of Schuylkill County, charged with her third offense in performing criminal operations and is being held incommunicado in the Schuylkill prison at Pottsville.
Under the information sworn for her arrest, the Zimmerman woman is charged with having performed a criminal operation on August 22 [1938], or two weeks before she went to trial on charges of having caused the death of a Tower City girl through a similar operation.
The woman was tried during the recent criminal session at Pottsville for causing a young woman’s death and when a jury acquitted her on the charge, Judge Houck bitterly denounced the 12 men and women for one of the worst miscarriages of justice in the recent history of Schuylkill County.
The victim of the more recent operation is being held under guard by county detectives until they have all necessary evidence for vigorous prosecution of the Zimmerman woman. Court has fixed bail for the woman $7,500 and announced it will not be lowered.
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From the Pottsville Republican & Herald, September 29, 1938:
WITNESS ARRESTED
Cyrus Marks, of Tower City, who gave testimony in the abortion trial of Elsie Zimmerman, of Tower City, at the last term of court has been placed under $1,000 bail on perjury charges. He was arrested last night by County detectives Buono and Clayton and given a hearing before ‘Squire Trout, Tower City.
At the trial, which was held before Judge Houck, Marks testified that on the night of the alleged abortion he was in the Zimmerman home all evening and that the victim of the abortion did not come to the house. Mrs. Zimmerman was acquitted and Judge Houck in rebuking the jury referred to the verdict as the worst miscarriage of justice in the history of the county. Mrs. Zimmerman has since been arrested on another charge of abortion and is in the county prison in default of $7,500 bail.
The county detectives state that Marks was not in the Zimmerman home all evening as he testified, and allege that they can prove where he was.
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From the Pottsville Republican & Herald, September 30, 1938:
WARRANTS ISSUED
County Detective Louis Buono fhis afternoon swore out warrants for the arrest of Harry Zimmerman and Elsie Zimmerman of Tower City on charges of subornation of perjury. This action follows the arrest of Cyrus Marks, also of Tower City, a witness at the trial of Elsie Zimmerman, who was charged with abortion and was acquitted. She is now under $1,000 bail on perjury charges. It is alleged that Zimmerman and his wife requested and arranged with Marks to testify that he was in their home between the hours of 8 p. m. and midnight on the night that it is alleged Mrs. Zimmerman performed an abortion on Marie Klinger. It is stated that marks was at work during the hours that he testified that he was in the Zimmerman home and that he has made this admission to the county authorities.
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From the Pottsville Republican, September 30, 1938:
TWO MORE HELD FOR PERJURY
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman and her husband, Harry Zimmerman, of Tower City, were each held under $1,500 bail for court, on Friday afternoon following a hearing before Squire John G. Trout at Tower City or charges of subornation of perjury. Mrs. Zimmerman is in prison awaiting the posting of $7,500 bail for her release on abortion charges.
County Detectives L. D. Buono and Bruce Clayton, charged Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman with having Cyrus Marks, their neighbor, testify in court the week before last, that he was in their home on the night of April 11, 1938, and that the victim of an illegal operation allegedly performed by Mrs. Zimmerman was not in the house during that time as claimed.
The jury acquitted Mrs. Zimmerman of the abortion charges and on Thursday Marks was arrested on the perjury charges after Detectives Buono and Clayton searched the records of the Brookside Colliery and found that Marks was not home that evening but rather was working.
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From the Sunbury Daily Item, October 1, 1938:
WITNESS HELD
Cyrus Marks of Tower City is under arrest on a charge of perjury, the result of his testimony in the abortion trial of Elsie Zimmerman of Tower City in Schuylkill county court recently. Marks had testified he was in the Zimmerman home throughout the evening that the alleged abortion was committed and that the victim did not appear. The jury acquitted Miss Zimmerman, who has since been arrested on a similar charge.
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From the Pottsville Republican, January 5, 1939:
TOWER CITY CASE DELAYED
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, of Tower City, and her husband, Harry Zimmerman, will be called to trial late Thursday or early Friday on charges of subornation of a perjury arising from the last trial of Mrs. Zimmerman wherein she was charged with abortion and acquitted.
The trial was to have been started on Thursday morning, but due to the lack of jurors due to the selection of the jury for the murder trial before Judge Palmer the case was set back.
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From the Pottsville Republican & Herald, January 9, 1939:
HUSBAND & WIFE ON TRIAL
Elsie Zimmerman and her husband Harry Zimmerman, of Tower City, were called for trial today before President Judge Henry Houck to answer charges of subornation of perjury. These charges grew out of the recent trial of the woman when she was acquitted of charges of abortion. This was the verdict that Judge Houck termed the worst miscarriage of justice in his career. Since the time the woman was arrested on a similar charge and is in the county jail in default of bail.
The husband and wife are charged with having a witness perjure himself by testifying that he was at the Zimmerman home the night of the alleged abortion and that the girl in question did not come there. Investigation by County Detective Louis Buono revealed that the witness had been at work in the mines.
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From the Pottsville Republican, January 10, 1939:
TOWER CITY CASE CALLED
President Judge Houck attached the trial of Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman and her husband Harry Zimmerman, of Tower City, who are jointly charged with subornation of perjury arising from Mrs. Zimmerman’s trial on abortion charges before Judge Houck during the September term of court.
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From the Shamokin News-Dispatch, January 10, 1939: [Note: Theis article mistakenly refers to Cyrus Marks as Harry Klinger. “Klinger” was the surname of the victim in the trial where Marks perjured himself. “Harry” was the first name of Elsie Zimmerman‘s husband].
REGION COUPLE ON TRIAL FOR COURT PERJURY
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY PAIR HELD IN CONNECTION WITH ABORTION CASE
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman and husband Harry Zimmerman, of Muir, are on trial before Judge Henry Houck in Schuylkill County court on charges of subornation of perjury growing out of a recent trial during which the woman was acquitted on charges of abortion which resulted in the death of Mae Klinger.
At the time of the acquittal, Judge Houck declared the case the worst miscarriage of justice in recent criminal history of Schuylkill County. He assigned County Detective Louis D. Buono to investigate the circumstances involved in the acquittal, and a short time later Mrs. Zimmerman and her husband were arrested.
Buono learned that Harry Klinger [sic], a neighbor, had been induced by the couple to testify during the trial that he was at their home the night the alleged abortion was performed. Checking on Klinger’s [sic] employment records at Brookside Colliery, the county detective learned he was at work all night of the date he testified he visited the Zimmerman home. Klinger [sic] admitted his part in the perjury plot and will be heard as a witness during the present trail.
Since her acquittal in connection with the Klinger girl’s death, Mrs. Zimmerman was arrested on another illegal operation charge and had been held in jail at Pottsville the past three months.
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From the Pottsville Republican & Herald, January 11, 1939:
Court House, Pottsville, January 11 [1939] — The January term of criminal court reverted to the usual grinding out of justice in cased of a minor nature today. The term will end on Friday after being in session since January 3.
The case attracting the most attention now is the trial of Elsie Zimmerman, and her husband Harry Zimmerman, of Tower City, on charges of subornation of perjury. They are charged with having influenced Cyrus Marks to give false testimony at a previous trial when Mrs. Zimmerman was acquitted of abortion charges.
Attorney V. J. Dalton, representing the defendants, demurred to the evidence on the grounds that it was necessary for the commonwealth to prove the guilt of Marks before trying the defendants with subornation of perjury. Judge Houck refused to sustain the demur. The case has been in process of trial since Monday and is expected to go to the jury today.
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From the Pottsville Republican, January 11, 1939:
WITNESS CONFESSES ON STAND HE SWORE FALSELY AT A PREVIOUS TRIAL
A jury retired from the court room of Pres. Judge Henry Houck at the noon hour Wednesday to deliberate the guilt or innocence of Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, 37, of Tower City, of subornation of perjury charges brough by L. D. Buono, chief of the county detectives.
The commonwealth charged that the defendants on September 15 and 16, 1938, committed the alleged crime by inducing their neighbor, Cyrus Marks, to come into court on September 16, 1938, and testify for Mrs. Zimmerman, who was on trial before Judge Houck on abortion charges.
Marks said he came to the court house and before taking the stand rehearsed what he would say outside of No. 3 court room, and then on the witness stand swore falsely that he was in the Zimmerman home on the night of April 11, 1938.
Marks, who is indicted on perjury charges, admitted that this testimony was false and told of how the defendants induced him to so swear at the September, 1938, term of court. Marks said he was working at the time in the Brookside Colliery and the records of the colliery showed that he was working at that time.
The defendants denied that they made overtures to Marks to testify and placed the aggressiveness on the shoulders of Marks, whom the defendants charged came to them and volunteered to testify for them.
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From the Pottsville Republican, January 11, 1939:
MRS. ZIMMERMAN TRIAL CALLED
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, of Tower City, was called to trial Wednesday afternoon on charges of committing an illegal operation on August 25, 1938. The selection of a jury got under way late Wednesday. Charles W. Staudenmeier and R. A. Freiler, assistant district attorneys appear for the commonwealth, with Attorney Vincent J. Dalton, Pottsville, for the defense.
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From the Shamokin News-Dispatch, January 12, 1939:
COURT POLLS JURY IN PERJURY CASE
Judge Henry Houck adopted the usual procedure of polling a sitting jury after counsel for the defense in the trial of Elsie Zimmerman and her husband Harry Zimmerman, on subornation of perjury charges, moved for a mistrial, basing the motion on an article published in Pottsville newspapers, which he held was prejudicial to the defendants.
The Zimmerman woman, twice convicted on charges of performing illegal operations on young women, now imprisoned awaiting trial for a similar offense. The press published these facts and defense council held the jury had been influenced by the published stories.
To settle the issue, Judge Houck polled the jury and each of the 12 men and women said that they had not read the articles and therefore were not prejudiced. The court then ordered attorneys to proceed with the trial, which has been in progress for two days.
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From the Pottsville Republican, January 12, 1939:
ZIMMERMANS FOUND GUILTY
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, 37, and her husband, Harry Zimmerman, 38, Tower City, were convicted before Judge Henry Houck on Thursday of subornation of perjury charges and a motion for a new trial stayed the passing of sentence.
The verdict was returned to the court in No. 1 court room where Mrs. Zimmerman is on trial as the defendant on charges brought by L. D. Buono, chief of county detectives, involving the performing of an illegal operation on a woman from the west end of the county on August 25, 1938.
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From the Pottsville Republican & Herald, January 12, 1939:
HUSBAND AND WIFE CONVICTED
Harry Zimmerman and Elsie Zimmerman of Tower City, were today convicted of subornation of perjury. The jury returned the verdict against the pair while Mrs. Zimmerman was on trial for abortion. The verdict was taken in another court room so not to influence the jury in the abortion case. The jury agreed upon the verdict last night.
The man and wife were convicted of subornation of perjury because they influenced Cyrus Marks, also of Tower City, to testify falsely at a previous trial of Mrs. Zimmerman when she was charged with abortion. The jury acquitted her. Marks has been indicted on charges of perjury.
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From the Shamokin News-Dispatch, January 13, 1939:
JURY CONVICTS REGION COUPLE
HUSBAND AND WIFE FOUND GUILTY OF SUBORNATION OF PERJURY
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman and her husband, Harry Zimmerman, of Muir, were convicted yesterday in Schuylkill County on charges of subornation of perjury and both face prison terms.
Mrs. Zimmerman is now on trial in another court on charges of performing an illegal operation.
Conviction of the Zimmermans followed their arrest after a previous acquittal of Mrs. Zimmerman on an abortion charge. The acquittal was considered such a miscarriage of justice Judge Houck ordered county detectives to investigate and they learned the couple had influenced Cyrus Marks, a neighbor, to testify he was a guest in their home the night the commonwealth contended a fatal operation had been performed on Mae Klinger. Detectives found Marks had worked that night at Brookside Colliery.
Faced with the facts, Marked turned state’s evidence and while he was charged with subornation of perjury, he was acquitted by a jury as a reward for becoming an important witness for the commonwealth.
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From the Pottsville Republican & Herald, January 13, 1939:
ELSIE ZIMMERMAN CONVICTED
Elsie Zimmerman, the one-legged abortionist of Tower City, was twice convicted in as many days. Yesterday, she and her husband, Harry Zimmerman, were convicted of subornation of perjury growing out of a previous abortion trial and this morning the jury convicted her of abortion. She has not been sentenced on either charge because her attorney has made a motion for a new trial.
Four times the defendant faced the bars of justice. She pleaded guilty to an abortion charge, was sentenced to a prison term, paroled, and while on parole was again arrested on charges of abortion. She was acquitted and this verdict was termed by Judge Houck as the worst miscarriage of justice in the history of the courts of the county. This acquittal was obtained when Cyrus Marks testified that he was at the defendant’s home and the victim of the alleged abortion was not there on the date she testified. Since then Marks has admitted that he perjured himself in giving the testimony and done so at the request of the defendant.
Because of her two convictions the parole of the defendant will be revoked. She will be compelled to serve out the unexpired parole and stands subject to sentence on the additional charges on which she has been convicted.
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From the Shamokin News-Dispatch, January 14, 1939: [Note: This article has some factual errors, including the number of trials Mrs. Zimmerman faced on abortion charges and the reason for the recent trial for which she was convicted; Elsie Drumm was the victim in the first trial, for which Mrs. Zimmerman pleaded guilty].
JURY CONVICTS DEFENDANT IN ABORTION CASE
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY WOMAN CHARGED WITH DEATH OF PATIENT
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman of Muir, Schuylkill County, was convicted on charges of performing an abortion upon a young woman of Sheridan, near Muir. The conviction was the second against the Zimmerman woman this week, she and her husband having been convicted of subornation of perjury following a previous trial.
Conviction yesterday of Mrs. Zimmerman marked her fourth trial for performing illegal operations. She was convicted in the first trial and was paroled after serving a short time in jail. Immediately following parole she was arrested for a similar offense and was convicted. The third trial resulted from the death of a young woman and by influencing a witness, the woman was acquitted.
The miscarriage of justice resulting in the charge of subornation of perjury and conviction of both Mrs. Zimmerman and her husband Harry Zimmerman. That verdict came in while she was on trial for the fourth time for abortion, involving the death of Elsie Brum [sic].
Counsel moved for a new trial, thus presenting the court from passing sentence on the two convictions returned this week. Mrs. Zimmerman was returned to jail at Pottsville, and there Warden Eddie Houser said it would be necessary to ask the court to transfer the woman to some institution for treatment of an advanced case of diabetes.
Mrs. Zimmerman suffered amputation of a leg several years ago when gangrene developed from her diabetic condition. Since her incarceration in jail on the abortion charges, her illness has advanced and she is said to need hospitalization.
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From the West Schuylkill Herald, June 16, 1939:
ORDERED FOR SENTENCE
Elsie Zimmerman, of Sheridan, whose case was to have been argued before Court Monday on a motion for a new trial, was ordered in for sentence when her attorneys abandoned the effort to secure a new trial for her. She was convicted of performing illegal operations upon several occasions and also of subornation of perjury in trying to form a defenses. She will be sentenced Monday night.
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From the Pottsville Republican, June 19, 1939:
TOWER CITY WOMAN GETS AN INDEFINITE SENTENCE IN INDUSTRIAL HOME
The June term of criminal court with cases listed for trial during the first week only got under way on Monday morning with four judges available for trial duty.
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, of West Colliery Avenue [Tower City], convicted of abortion charges and subsequent to that with her husband Harry Zimmerman were sentenced by Judge Houck on Monday after their motions for mew trials had been withdrawn.
On the abortion charge, Mrs. Zimmerman who is 38, was sentenced to the State Industrial Home at Muncy for an indefinite period and drew a similar sentence on the subornation of perjury charges and in addition Judge Houck forever disqualified her as a witness in any issue or matter in controversy. The only was Mrs. Zimmerman can be a witness is by a full pardon from the Governor of the state.
The husband of the woman was sentenced to pay the costs with further sentence being suspended. L. D. Buono, chief of county detectives charged Mrs. Zimmerman with performing an illegal operation and also charged the woman and husband with enlisting the services of Cyrus Marks, a neighbor, in establishing an alibi relative to one subornation of perjury charge.
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From the Pottsville Republican, June 20, 1939:
THREE MONTHS FOR PERJURY
Cyrus Marks, 44, of 110 W. Colliery Avenue, Tower City, was sentenced to serve not less that three months nor more than two years and was fined $1 and costs of prosecution by Judge Houck on Tuesday after pleading guilty on perjury charges. In addition, the court forever disqualified Marks from testifying in any matter in controversy and the only way he can have this right restored to him is by full pardon from the governor.
Marks testified at the September 1938 term of court that he was in the home of Elsie Zimmerman, his neighbor, all during the night when she was accused of performing an illegal operation, and he denied such an operation had been performed as charged. The result was that Mrs. Zimmerman, who was sentenced to the Muncy Industrial Home on Monday on subornation of perjury and abortion charges. was acquitted at that time.
In passing sentence, Judge Houck said that there is no question in his mind that the testimony of Marks was what brought about the acquittal of Mrs. Zimmerman and branded it a gross miscarriage of justice. L. D. Buono, chief of the county detectives, investigated and found that Marks was working in the mines the night he claimed he was in the Zimmerman home.
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From the Lykens Standard, June 23, 1939:
GETS INDEFINITE SENTENCE AT INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, of West Colliery Avenue, Tower City, convicted of abortion charges and subsequent to that on parole for similar charged, together with her husband Harry Zimmerman, were sentenced by Judge Houck on Monday after their motions for new trials had been withdrawn in the Schuylkill County Courts.
On the abortion charge Mrs. Zimmerman who is 38 was sentenced to the State Industrial Home at Muncy for an indefinite period and drew a similar sentence on the subornation of perjury charges, and in addition Judge Houck forever disqualified her as a witness in any issue or matter in controversy. The only way Mrs. Zimmerman can be a witness is by a full pardon from the Governor of the state.
The husband of the woman was sentenced to pay the costs with further sentence being suspended. L. D. Buonon, chief of county detectives, charged Mrs. Zimmerman with performing an illegal operation and also charged the woman and her husband with enlisting the services of Cyrus Marks, a neighbor, in establishing an alibi relative to one subordination of perjury charge.
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From the West Schuylkill Herald, June 23, 1939:
TWO CONVICTED
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman, of Tower City, was sentenced to the Muncy Home for Women in county court on Monday, on charges of performing an illegal operation. The sentence is for an indefinite period. Her husband was acquitted on a charge of subornation of perjury. In the same case, Cyrus Marks was convicted of perjury, and was sentenced to 3 months in the county jail.
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From the West Schuylkill Herald, July 28 1939:
MARKS IS PAROLED
Cyrus Marks, of Reinerton, who was serving a term in prison for perjury in connection with the trial of Elsie Zimmerman, who was convicted of performing illegal operations upon women at her home, was released from prison Monday upon a modified sentence. He had been sentenced on June 20th [1939] to serve three months to two years, but the sentence was modified to read not less than one month or more than two years.
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From the Sunbury Daily Item, August 26, 1940:
FACES DIVORCE SUIT
Mrs. Elsie Zimmerman of Tower City, who was released last week from the Muncy Industrial Home after serving a sentence for performing an abortion, is named defendant in a divorce suit filed in the Schuylkill County courts by Harry Zimmerman of Tower City, who claims the criminal action of his wife have resulted in indignities and cruel treatment. They were married in Tower City, February 12, 1921.
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Articles from Newspapers.com. Death certificate of Elsie Drumm from Ancestry.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.