Mary Ellen Wilson (March 1864 – October 30, 1956) also called Mary Ellen McCormack was an American whose case of

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

led to the creation of the

New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was founded in 1874 (and incorporated in 1875). It is the world's first child protective agency. It is sometimes called the Gerry Society after one of its co-founders, Elbridge Thomas ...

. At the age of eight, she was severely abused by her foster parents, Francis and Mary Connolly. Because she was assisted by

Henry Bergh Henry Bergh (August 29, 1813 – March 12, 1888) founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in April, 1866, three days after the first effective legislation against animal cruelty in the United States was passed ...

, then the head of the

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective mea ...

, some sources incorrectly state that statutes against

cruelty to animals Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm or suf ...

had to be used to remove her from the home. Hers was the first documented case of

in the United States.

Biography

Mary Ellen was born in March 1864 to Frances Connor Wilson and Thomas Wilson of

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the eas ...

in New York City. Frances Connor immigrated from England to New York City in 1858 and met Irishman Thomas Wilson. The couple married in April 1862, soon after Thomas was drafted into the 69th New York, a regiment of the Irish Brigade.Stevens, Peter & Eide, Marian, The First Chapter of Children’s Rights, ''American Heritage'', July - August 1990, pages 84 - 91 Following Thomas's death during the war, Frances had to take a job, and was no longer able to stay at home to raise her infant daughter. She boarded her daughter, a common practice at the time, with a woman named Martha Score. When Frances Wilson's financial situation worsened, she began to miss her visitation dates with her daughter and was no longer able to make child care payments to Score. Score turned Mary Ellen, now almost two, into the New York City Department of Charities. The Department placed Mary Ellen under the care of Thomas and Mary McCormack, a couple who had lost three children to slum-bred diseases. McCormack boasted he had fathered children by another woman, and on January 2, 1866, the McCormacks went to the Department of Charities, and claimed Mary Ellen Wilson was Thomas McCormack's daughter. The Department of Charities placed Mary Ellen into the McCormacks' care. Thomas McCormack signed an "indenture" agreement upon retrieving Mary Ellen from the Department of Charities' care. The McCormacks were required to report the child's condition annually to the department, but this only occurred once or twice during Mary Ellen's stay. Shortly after gaining custody of the girl Thomas McCormack died. His widow then married Francis Connolly.

Investigation into abuse

The Connollys and Mary Ellen moved to an apartment on West 41st Street. It was at this address that neighbors first became aware of young Mary Ellen's mistreatment. Her foster mother forced her to do heavy labor, repeatedly beat, burned, and cut the child and locked her in a closet. When the Connollys moved to a new address, one of the concerned neighbors from their 41st Street apartment asked Etta Angell Wheeler, a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

missionary who worked in the area, to check in on the child. Under the pretext of asking Mrs. Connolly's help in caring for Connolly's new neighbor, the chronically ill and home-bound Mary Smitt, Wheeler gained access to the Connollys' apartment to witness Mary Ellen's state for herself. When Ms. Wheeler saw evidence of severe

physical abuse Physical abuse is any intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person or animal by way of bodily contact. In most cases, children are the victims of physical abuse, but adults can also be victims, as in cases of domestic violence or wo ...

malnourishment Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

, and

neglect In the context of caregiving, neglect is a form of abuse where the perpetrator, who is responsible for caring for someone who is unable to care for themselves, fails to do so. It can be a result of carelessness, indifference, or unwillingness and ...

in Mary Ellen's condition—she was seen barefoot in the winter, for example—Wheeler began to research legal options to redress the abuse and protect the young girl. After finding the local authorities reluctant to act upon the child cruelty laws currently in place, Wheeler turned to a local advocate for the animal humane movement and the founder of the

. With the help of neighbors' testimony, Wheeler and Bergh removed Mary Ellen from the Connolly home using a writ of '' homine replegiando'' and took Mary Connolly to trial.

New York State Supreme Court

Elbridge Thomas Gerry Elbridge Thomas Gerry (December 25, 1837 – February 18, 1927), usually called "Commodore" Gerry due to the office he held with the New York Yacht Club from 1886 to 1892, was an American lawyer and reformer who was the grandson of U.S. Vice P ...

took her case to the

New York State Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

in 1874. At the time of the trial, Mary Ellen was ten years of age. The deliberate cruelties and deprivations inflicted on Mary Ellen Wilson by her adopted parents included the following: * regular and severe beatings with a rawhide * burnings * struck with scissors * insufficient food * being forced to sleep on the floor * having no warm clothes to wear in cold weather * being frequently left alone inside a darkened, locked room * being forbidden to go outdoors, except at night in her own yard * forced to do heavy labor On April 9, 1874, the child

testified In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. La ...

in court regarding the abuse she had suffered: A jury convicted Mrs. Connolly of assault and battery and the judge sentenced her to one year in prison. That year, the

was founded, the first organization of its kind.

Later life and death

Following the conviction of Mary Connolly, Mary Ellen was initially placed in a juvenile home before Etta Wheeler and her relatives successfully obtained custody of her. Wheeler later wrote: :"The child was an interesting study, so long shut within four walls and now in a new world. Woods, fields, 'green things growing,' were all strange to her, she had not known them. She had to learn, as a baby does, to walk upon the ground – she had walked only upon floors, and her eye told her nothing of uneven surfaces." In 1888, when Mary Ellen was twenty-four, she married Lewis Schutt, a widower with three children. They had two daughters, Etta (named after the woman who rescued Mary Ellen), and Florence. The couple also adopted an orphaned girl named Eunice. Her daughter Florence remembered Mary Ellen as being solemn, but someone who "came alive whenever she listened to Irish jigs and especially to ''

The Irish Washerwoman "The Irish Washerwoman" is a traditional jig known to have been played throughout Britain and Ireland and in North America. Although usually considered an Irish tune, some scholars claim that it is English in origin, derived from the seventeenth-c ...

''." She lived to the age of ninety-two, and died on October 30, 1956.

References

External links

American Humane Association

Waifs and Strays
''The New York Times'', April 11, 1874
Mary Ellen Wilson; Further Testimony As To The Child's Ill Treatment By Her Guardians
''The New York Times'', April 12, 1874
Mary Ellen Wilson; Further Testimony In The Case—Two Indictments Found Against Mrs. Connolly By The Grand Jury
''The New York Times'', April 14, 1874
Our City Charities Versus The Case Of Mary Ellen
''The New York Times'', April 16, 1874
Prevention Of Cruelty To Children
''The New York Times'', April 17, 1874
Mary Ellen Wilson; Mrs. Connolly, the Guardian, Found Guilty, And Sentenced To One Year's Imprisonment At Hard Labor
''The New York Times'', April 28, 1874
Out of the Darkness: The Story of Mary Ellen Wilson
Print, Kindle and Audiobook links at

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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Mary Ellen 1864 births 1956 deaths Child abuse in the United States Crimes in New York City New York Supreme Court Crimes in Manhattan