“A Woman’s Wild Life”

Question

Hi Wikitreers,

We have a Ellen F (Nugent) Wharton (1820 - 1890) and this is a follow up of her g2g trial of “Suspicious Death of U.S. Civil War Gen. William Scott Ketchum (1813-1871)”

Per Wikipedia “He died on June 28, 1871, in Baltimore, Maryland, under suspicious circumstances, the landlady of his boarding house, Ellen G. Wharton being suspected of poisoning him. She was found not guilty.”

“Apparently his landlady was accused of poisoning him but was acquitted”

https://www.murderbygaslight.com/2021/08/a-baltimore-borgia.html

The story of this Pennsylvania native born girl is very intriguing and fascinating. See article Titled  “A Woman’s Wild Life” The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 20, 1890, Page 5. 

It seems she even arranged a marriage and wedding (with Invites) that was a hoax to a Mr. Williamson then her father upon realizing thought to commit her!

I’d like to connect her genealogy and her connections to the Wharton family. 

She also needs to have her daughter connected  

Thank you

Any collaboration is appreciated 

Comments

I'm going to start calling you "click bait" because everytime I see a post by you, I have to click on it. Never fails to be interesting. LOL

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This 19th century Belle was something else! To actually stage her own wedding then add in the double trial leaves so many questions but few answers. 

The one source here seems to favor her position during her trials. 

I’m hoping to get her siblings better sourced and connected 

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You know I'll help you with the connections and sources.

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Did you see that her son, Henry C Wharton, was exumed in 1871 for the stomach and intestines to be tested for poisoning?

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I didn’t see any source about being exhumed in 1871, but he did die young and it appears she was suspected (per the news clip). Is there a death certificate on him?

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Death certificates are available for Baltimore City 1875-2012. Death certificates for all other counties, including Baltimore County, available from 1898 - 2012. There are indices for some years, but not all. Death indices for the mostly earlier years are available. The earlier indices are available at the Maryland Archives online. Allow yourself lots of time to slog through this. Reclaim the Records, Maryland Nov 2023

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Thank you 

Answer 1

Andrew:

            I got her husband connected to the Wharton family.  That was the easy piece.

                                Roger

Comments

Nice work! Thank you 

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Ellen's brother Deacon George Nugent seems to have been very prominent but her father is better hidden.

Here's a short discussion of the father, which seems to be politely saying that he couldn't get along with his neighbors:

https://cdn.website-editor.net/020d9c979f77483189db333592c7de7f/files/uploaded/Pennsylvania%2520County%2520Histories%252C%2520Scrapbooks%252C%2520Montgomery%2520County%252C%2520Volume%252063.pdf

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Thank you Roger,

I added all of George’s and Rosanna children his first wife name unknown

Much work sourcing and improving upon their respective profiles will be needed.

Edit: it’s interesting the article mentions Ellen’s husband being Lt. Harry Wharton son of Judge Wharton of Phila. Franklin Wharton (1767 - 1818)

Answer 2

This was an interesting mystery.  The general dies and she is acquitted of his murder. Then another boarder has the same poison in his drink. She gets a hung jury in the attempted murder trial and is not retried. Also, speculation arises regarding the death of her husband and another relative. The mystery of the death of the General, turns into a complex thriller with 4 possible victims.  

Thanks Andrew. This was fun.

Comments

Oh I think there is so much more to this Mrs. Wharton than the history books, etc., are revealing! I wonder if Mr. Williamson was her true romance? Then maybe the poisonings were for the heavily insured family members? So much more to this I’d imagine. If only ghosts talked…She passed at 70 yrs of age, but no gravestone photo I can find yet!

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With the General's death and one other boarder attempted to kill, I wonder if more elderly residents of her boarding house died over the years?  I don't have a subscription to one of the newspaper clipping sites, But I would think that would be a good place to search. See if she is mentioned in any other newspaper articles back then.