Recently I came across two unrelated stories of seduction in McLean County. One illustrates the resourcefulness of an orphaned girl and the other the kind protection of a father.
In 1866 Mary Jane Gates was eight years old when her mother died. Her father had died in 1860, so she was a full orphan along with her two older brothers, with only one aunt still living in McLean County. That aunt had ten children of her own and probably had little ability to take in three others. So the two brothers were sent to live with the brothers of their mother on other farms in McLean County. Mary was living near Padua with Samuel and Elizabeth Dooley in 1870, a newly married couple with an infant. Perhaps Mary continued to live with the Dooleys for a time, but by 1880, they had four children and Mary was no longer living with them. Apparently she was living in Bloomington in 1878, because an article regarding her marriage gave her most recent history. John Fisher, a man from Downs, had become became "friendly" with Mary. The result was a baby born in the summer of 1879. Although John Fisher promised Mary he would "settle" the matter, he did nothing until one day in January of 1880. He came to Bloomington with the intention of saying good bye to friends and migrating to Kansas that very day. Mary told him he ought to "kiss the baby" before leaving. At the same time, she called Captain Press Butler to her home, and Fisher was arrested and compelled to marry Mary Gates immediately.
I admire Mary's moxie. Perhaps she had fallen away from the straight and narrow path simply because she sought the comfort of human companionship in a world where she had few friends and no family. But Mary had the smarts to take advantage of her one opportunity to prove that John Fisher was the father of her baby and guarantee a future for that baby. The Fishers left for Kansas on schedule, and over the years John and Mary had three more children. Perhaps they had a happy life together despite their rocky start.
Myrtle Mock was not an unprotected orphan, but a young thirteen year old girl. W.B. Howley was a dashing young veterinarian who had a taste for feminine companionship, but little self control. He was a byword in the town of Arrowsmith, despite the fact that he had been living there less than a year. Several girls were forbidden to have anything to do with him because of the reputation he had developed. But on August 19, 1913, Howley made an appointment to meet young Myrtle Mock. Luckily, Myrtle's father was on guard because of past appointments. He heard Howley's whistle and took action! John Mock and his son obtained an automobile and drove after Howley's buggy, stopping the couple not very far from home. Myrtle was sent home with her brother, and John Mock compelled Howley to drive the buggy to the mayor's house. There Howley's crime was revealed and the decision was made to take him to the jail in Bloomington. No one realized the implications when Howley was observed to drink a glass of water and take a tablet, but in the car he went into convulsions. Rather than face up to his misdeeds, Howley had taken strychnine, which he kept in a vial in his vest pocket. He died in the doctor's office in Arrowsmith.
What is really disturbing about this story is that Howley was carrying strychnine around in his pocket! Could he have just as easily turned to homicide rather than suicide? Another young girl had accused him of assaulting her, but because she was being committed to the insane asylum, her accusations were not taken seriously. Myrtle Mock was fortunate to have a father keeping a close watch over a young, impressionable girl.