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Record #4043
Name :
: Maria MCCABE (1866 - )


Father
:
Mother
:
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 1866 (approx.)

Marriage (1)
:
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
:
Abode (1) : Place of BirthIreland, Dublin
Abode (2) : Place of Death / Burial
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 1880
Country
: Canada

Ship
: - Unknown -

Placement Family
: Foster; Jones
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: South Union (City of Dublin, Ireland)
NotesIn 1880, Maria McCabe, 14, was sent from Dublin to Canada as a pauper. Her mother had died when Maria was very young and her blind father was unable to provide for her. She sold matches and papers on the streets of Dublin to support herself and her father, then lived in a convent for three years--until the South Union of the City of Dublin sent her, along with 42 other girls, to Canada as a domestic.

In 1881, Maria McCabe, 15, was shown as a servant to the widow Mary Ann Foster, in Ward 5, Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada.

Her next employer, Lewis Jones of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, seduced her. Maria testified during her trial that when Jones's wife was absent in London, 'he took the upper hand of me.' Seven months later McCabe informed Jones that she was pregnant, but he refused to take any responsibility for the baby and dismissed her, sending her out into the Hamilton streets to fend for herself. She was 15.

After the birth of her child, Maria was evicted from her lodgings, and, since she had a baby, no one would employ her. Penniless and homeless, she sought help from a priest and the mayor of Hamilton. They refused. She roamed the streets with her baby in her arms until, chilled, hungry and desperate, she finally threw the baby into an open cistern of water. [THIS IS DISPUTED BY A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE IN THE CLINTON EVENING NEWS--See below.]

Four months later, the baby's remains were discovered. The police arrested McCabe and she readily admitted her guilt, telling the Hamilton chief of police that she was 'glad it was off her mind', that she 'hadn't had a minute of peace of mind since she had committed the murder.' She was charged and, pled guilty, refusing to defend herself even though she knew that a guilty plea would mean the death sentence. During the 1883 Fall Assizes, the judge reluctantly sentenced her to death but recommended mercy.


The New York Times reported on Friday, October, 13, 1883:

A WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH

THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT WILL PROBABLY COMMUTE THE SENTENCE

Toronto, Ontario, Oct. 18.--Sentence of death has been passed upon a woman named Maria McCabe at the Wentworth Assizes. She was arraigned and pleaded guilty to the charge of murdering her illegitimate son by drowning him in an unused cistern nearly full of water. A painful scene was witnessed when the unfortunate woman stood up to receive her sentence. In answer to the question if if she had anything to say why sentence of death should not be passed upon her she uttered a few words in a faltering voice. Judge Morrison, who presided then directed that she be taken from the dock to a position near his chair, evidently fearing his ability to trust his voice to carry the fatal words across the court-room to the dock. Amid a deathlike silence his honor donned the black cap and, with tears streaming down his countenance, he pronounced sentence upon the prisoner. He expressed the sorrow he felt at having to carry out such a terrible duty and referred to the pitiful circumstances which surrounded the case and assured the trembling woman, who could scarcely support herself by the aid of a chair, that he would do his utmost to have the Government remit the capital sentence. Proceeding, the Judge said:

"The sentence of this court upon you, Maria McCabe, is that you be taken to the place from whence you came, and that on the 18th of December next you be taken to the place of execution and be hanged by the neck until you are dead, and may God have mercy on your soul."

An agonized shriek pierced the silence of the court as the last words were uttered, and the condemned woman was borne from the court in a fainting condition. It is probable the petition, largely signed, will be presented to the Government to commute the sentence.


The Clinton Evening News
October 19 1883

A SAD SCENE

On Passing a Sentence of Death on a Young Girl, a Canadian Judge is Moved to Tears

HAMILTON, Ont., Oct. 18.--Sentence of death, to be executed on December 18, has been passed on Maria McCabe, a servant girl who was convicted of murdering her illegitimate child. The girl within a year arrived from Ireland, and has but few friends or acquaintances. The history of the case is sad. Maria was betrayed by a married man, who refused to do anything for her. Having no friends in this country she went to the City Hospital November last, and took the baby boy to the home of Mrs. Foster, where she was employed as a servant. Her employer was very kind to the child, making clothes for it. The girl became troubled and told her friends she was sick of the baby and wanted to get rid of it. In April Mrs. Foster missed the child. When questioned Maria said she put it out to board. She would not say where. August 2 Mrs. Foster was in the yard wit a child who lifted the cover of the cistern and the body of the baby was found floating in the water. The lady recognized the child by the clothes she had made for it, and Maria, who was working in another place, was arrested. She broke down and confessed to the Chief-of-Police that she had thrown the child in the cistern on March 7. When arraigned she pleaded guilty to a charge of murder. The Judge shed tears as he passed the sentence of death and the girl was led shrinking from the court-room. It is believed efforts will be made to have the sentence commuted.


A broadly based campaign to have her sentence commuted arose quickly in Hamilton. One appeal to the federal cabinet stressed her vulnerability as a young woman and the guilt of the man who had fathered her child:

"Remember that when a young girl has a child out of wedlock, that when she fell, it was an unmanly and cruel outrage upon woman whom as the weaker vessel every good man ought if he be capable of the slightest feeling to give aid and protect not to cruelly wrong. Remember when a poor girl is brought to shame the untold agony with which she looks forward to a blighted life; if the heartless man, who wronged her prove false and do not as he ought to marry her."

The cabinet commuted her sentence to 14 years in Kingston Penitentiary. An unsuccessful appeal was made in 1887 to grant her early release, but a further appeal in 1889 was successful. Both appeals insisted that she had been in a state of despair and drew attention to her exemplary conduct in prison. The deputy minister advised Minister of Justice J. H. Thompson that the 'term of imprisonment served by the prisoner has been sufficient to vindicate the law, and that the exercise of clemency would not now be detrimental to the administration of justice.

(Portions of the above text copyright "Walk Towards the Gallows," by Reinhold Kramer and Tom Mitchell, University of Toronto Press, 2007.)

Flushing Daily Times
November 9, 1883

A YOUNG MAGDALEN

Condemned to Death for Murdering her Baby, Sentence is Commuted

HAMILTON, Can., Nov. 9.--Maria McCabe, the eighteen-year-old girl who murdered her baby by throwing it in a cistern, has been pardoned by the governor general. She was sentenced to be hanged on December 16. The following is her affidavit on which her pardon was granted: "I was born in Dublin, Ireland, eighteen years ago. My mother died when I was six years of age. Following quickly on my mother's death, my father, a blacksmith, became blind by pieces of iron flying into his eyes. I first went out to service as a nurse girl in Ireland. Along with a number of other girls, assisted by some sisterhood, I emigrated to this country, arriving on September 8, 1880. I was employed in many places as a servant, and left each situation on various pretexts. Over a year ago I was led astray. I afterward became a mother. Since then I have been cruelly chided by acquaintances for my fault. The unwelcome remarks were so numerous and persistent that I yielded to a sudden impulse and threw my baby into a cistern. After my child was born I found great difficulty in sustaining it and myself. I am very sorry for what I have done, and sincerely repent my rash act." 
ContributorsCreated : 2008-08-24 16:16:28 / From original database

Last Updated : 2013-01-06 16:38:10 /

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