Bio

Nancy Farrer’s date of birth is not recorded in the sources available. Her family came from an English background. Her father was described as an Englishman who joined the Mormons and lived for a time with Nancy and her mother in Nauvoo, Illinois. He later died in a hospital in Cincinnati from alcoholism.

Her mother was also identified with the Mormon faith. Records say the mother believed herself to be a prophetess. Nancy is reported to have imagined herself to be like her mother in that way.

Nancy trained and worked as a nurse. People who knew her as a caregiver said she was kind to patients and their families. In several households she was called a kind and affectionate nurse.

Observers described Nancy as awkward and of limited capacity in some ways. The court record noted that she hardly ever spoke unless spoken to, asked no questions, and did what she was told. The same record described her appearance and head shape, reflecting the period’s interest in phrenology.

There is testimony that medical men and others at the time thought she showed signs of mental illness. The court record quoted Justice John A. Corwin and others discussing her family history, appearance, and training as factors in their view of her mental state.

Murder Story

In 1851 and 1852 Nancy Farrer worked in Cincinnati as a nurse and poisoned members of a family for whom she was working. Four persons in the Forrest family died. The poison was arsenic. She was convicted of murder in 1852. The Supreme Court of Ohio ordered a new trial. On retrial she was found insane and was sent to a lunatic asylum.

Nancy had an argument with Mrs. Forrest after being told to re-clean a spilled floor. A friend, Mary Ann Dankey, testified that Nancy said she would “fix her for it.” Soon after, Mrs. Forrest fell ill after eating a supper Nancy had prepared. Nancy compared the illness to that of a former employer, Mrs. Green. Mrs. Forrest died the next day.

A week after Mrs. Forrest was buried, John Edward Forrest became ill in the same way and died after vomiting a greenish bile. People noticed how many deaths had occurred where Nancy lived. Nancy herself said, “Five have died where I lived. First were Mrs. Green and her baby, and Mrs. Isherwood’s baby died a day or two after I left.” She predicted more deaths in the Forrest household and said, “How lucky I am with sick folks. They all die.” When Dankey said, “Maybe you killed them,” Nancy replied, “Maybe I did.”

Nancy also told a witness that “In a week or two, Jimmy will die.” Jimmy later became ill, vomited green bile, and died. He said the “onion syrup” Nancy gave him made him ill. While Jimmy was sick, Nancy refused to eat dinner with the family. That night Elisha and Billy Forrest became very ill but they recovered.

Elisha Forrest had Jimmy’s body examined. Dr. Dandridge performed a post-mortem in the home and concluded that arsenic was present. When poison was mentioned, Nancy became “quite excited and anxious,” and she kept close to the men who spoke about it. The day after Jimmy’s funeral, Elisha found a piece of wrapping paper outside Nancy’s room with the label “Dr. Salter’s Drug Store.” William Salter testified that he had sold Nancy five cents worth of arsenic three weeks before Jimmy’s stomach was brought for analysis. Other druggists testified that Nancy bought large quantities of arsenic at different times. One said she had bought “enough to poison twenty people.”

At trial in 1852 the jury initially found Nancy guilty. The case reached the Ohio Supreme Court, which found errors at the first trial. The court listed jury misconduct. Jurors had read a newspaper with parts of the proceedings, some jurors drank spirituous liquors, and jurors communicated with people outside the jury room. The court also said the trial judge had given wrong instructions about insanity.

The issue of Nancy’s sanity was central at the Supreme Court review. The court discussed the then-new legal questions about insanity and mentioned the M’Naughten rules established in England. Justice John A. Corwin wrote that witnesses and medical men had identified problems with Nancy’s mind. The court also relied on phrenology and on family history in discussing her condition. Corwin wrote that Nancy was not like other women and noted her family background, including her parents’ history.

Because of the jury misconduct and the errors about insanity, the court set aside the guilty verdict and ordered a new trial. At the retrial Nancy was found insane and not criminally responsible. She was sent to a lunatic asylum. Records do not make clear what happened to her after that.