Sarah H. Furber

Sarah H. Furber

Portraits

Furber, Sarah H., 1825-1848

In 1848, after millworker Sarah H. Furber died following an abortion, physician John McNab (1783-1878) brought her body to Boston and offered to sell it to Holmes as a subject for dissection at the Medical School. The offer was refused, but Holmes and J. B. S. Jackson were subsequently asked to make a postmortem examination of the body, and Holmes was called in to testify during the course of the McNab trial. The Medical School’s steward, Ephraim Littlefield, was examined about his role in the McNab incident. Both Holmes and Littlefield were also called to the witness stand during the infamous murder trial of Dr. John White Webster in 1850.

John McNab later went on to be president of the White Mountain Medical Society and the New Hampshire Medical Society.

Drawing of Sarah H. Furber from The Manchester tragedy : a sketch of the life and death of Miss Sarah H. Furber, and the trial of her seducer and murderer

Carroll, George

Fisk & Moore

1848

The Boston Medical Library does not hold copyright on all materials in this collection. For use information, consult Public Services at chm@hms.harvard.edu

Access to the original work depicted requires advance notice. Contact Public Services at chm@hms.harvard.edu for additional information

Boston Medical Library Rare Books Collection (RA1067.C31 1848)

image

1 portrait

still image

DigID0002128

Purchased for the Boston Medical Library, 2009