Pennsylvania Serial Killers: Martha Grinder

 

One of America's most successful serial killers was Martha Grinder, an Allegheny County woman who rose to notoriety in the years following the Civil War as "The Poisoner of Gray's Alley". What made Martha Grinder so successful in playing her deadly game, aside from the fact that she killed indiscriminately for years before getting caught, was that she appeared beyond reproach-- for Martha was adored by her neighbors and was regarded as one of the kindest-hearted women in the Pittsburgh area.

If Mrs. Grinder had perpetrated her sinister crimes in the modern era, there's no doubt that her name would be known far and wide. But since she carried out her mission of misery in the early days of mass communication (the telegraph had been invented when Martha was still a teenager), her name is now just a footnote in the annals of Pennsylvania crime.

Prior to 1907, Pittsburgh's North Side was a separate municipality known as Allegheny City. During the closing years of the Civil War, hospitals and nurses were few and far between in the city. For residents of Old Allegheny, middle-aged Martha Grinder was an angel of mercy in the community; wherever there was sickness, Mrs. Grinder was summoned as one might summon St. Anthony to assist in locating a missing object. Martha spent many nights keeping bedside vigils for sick neighbors, and she cooked meals for the husbands of sick wives. She was rarely seen without her "miraculous" beef broth and herbal tea, which she readily dispensed to anyone gripped by fever.

Martha was a tiny woman but carried herself with an air of graceful dignity, which her patients found comforting.  The ill seemed to have a fascination for Martha, and the fascination was mutual; she had a habit of intently studying the faces of her patients, watching each symptom as it developed. Once invited inside a patient's home, Martha took complete charge, bearing the burden of a nurse, caretaker, and cook. There was never a nurse as thorough as Mrs. Grinder, said her neighbors. If one of her patients should die, she dressed the body for burial and made the necessary funeral arrangements. As a result, Martha was praised for her commitment to her patients, and was seen as the personification of self-sacrifice.

Yet, no one knew much about her past. She had arrived in Allegheny City around 1860 with her second husband, George Grinder. They were poor, and rented a cheap house near the Point. They brought with them a baby girl, who was about one year old. After about a year the Grinders moved to a better house in Gray's Alley, and it was around this time Martha began wearing finer clothes and carrying herself as a pillar of the community. She joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, but soon resigned after a quarrel with some of the congregation. When questioned about her sudden affluence, Martha explained that a relative had left her $10,000 in a will that stipulated that Martha would only receive the bequest if she brought forth a child to carry on the family bloodline. Rather than scaling back her workload, the sudden windfall made Martha work even harder at caring for the ill.

In the summer of 1865, Martha Grinder took on her last patient.  Little did she know at the time that this patient would ultimately lead her to the gallows.

Mary Caroline Carothers was the 25-year-old wife of James A. Carothers, and the young couple lived in Gray's Alley next door to the Grinders. One day in June, Martha invited Mary over for tea and peaches and cream. The two women must've presented a stark contrast; Mrs. Carothers was young, beautiful and radiated good health, while Mrs. Grinder was worn down, her hair sprinkled with gray, her body growing thin and frail. Yet, later that evening, it was Mary Carothers who appeared to be at death's door, having falling ill shortly after tea with Martha Grinder.

 Martha jumped into action, as she always did at the first signs of sickness. She made soup and toast for the sick woman, and sat at her bedside. Mary soon began to feel better, but fell ill once more after eating one of Martha's meals. A physician, Dr. Irish, was sent for, and he examined Mary. After Martha had left the room, Dr. Irish told the patient's husband that something was seriously wrong, but he kept his opinions as to the true nature of Mary's illness to himself; he did not dare to make accusations that he could not prove. Instead, he urged James Carothers to take Mary out of the area for a while, insisting that a change of scenery would do her good. James complied, and he took his wife to New Castle, where James remained until July 7.

Upon returning to Allegheny City, James learned that Martha Grinder's baby girl had passed away and James paid a visit to the Grinder home to express his sympathy. However, he noted that Martha wasn't quite as emotional as she should have been over the death of an only child. Martha asked James to stay for breakfast, and she put on a pot of coffee. James later recalled that the coffee had a strange metallic taste, though it did not occur to him to say anything at the time. Martha told James that he looked pale, and her eyes brightened when James confessed that he was feeling a little under the weather. "If you're sick during the night, let me know," said Martha as James took his leave. The young man thought it was a rather strange remark, but, once again, did not say anything.

Sure enough, James Carothers became violently ill that evening and Mrs. Grinder was summoned. She brought toast and coffee to the sick man, and James' condition only grew worse after eating.

On July 14, Mary Carothers returned home from New Castle to find her husband ill. She had intended to cook rice and milk that evening, but when she realized that she was out of milk, she went next door to borrow some from Mrs. Grinder. James ate the rice and milk and his condition took a turn for the worse. Over the next few days, Mary was so busy caring for her husband that she didn't have the time to cook her own meals. As usual, Martha Grinder was quick to volunteer. After eating one of Mrs. Gringer's meals, Mary grew ill and never got out of bed again; she died on August 1, with her husband lying in the same room.

Newspaper illustration of Martha Grinder

 
The Poisoner of Gray's Alley

A post mortem examination revealed a lethal quantity of arsenic and antimony in Mary Carothers' stomach. On August 24, James appeared before a magistrate and filed a complaint against Martha Grinder, accusing her of the murder of his wife. Only then did neighbors connect the dots. They noticed that sickness and Mrs. Grinder were an inseparable pair. Their mistake had simply been that Martha did not follow sickness, but that sickness followed Martha. It was soon recalled that George Grinder's brother, Samuel, had died while under Martha's care. And then there was Martha's young daughter. And what had happened to Martha's first husband? A chilling picture began to emerge, especially after recalling the tragic fate of eighteen-year-old Jane Buchanan.

On February 24, 1864, the Grinders hired Jane Buchanan as a domestic servant. Jane fell ill soon after her arrival, and one neighbor later recalled that she had detected a strange gleam of delight in Martha's eyes when she refused to offer the sick girl a glass of water. Jane died in agony on February 28, just four days after her arrival. At the time of her death, Jane was engaged to be married.

Trial and Execution

Martha Grinder was formally charged with murder and found guilty on October 28, 1865. During the trial, a tearful James Carothers related the story of his wife's illness, while Martha impassively listened to the testimony without exhibiting the slightest hint of emotion. The courtroom was packed that day, and the spectators anxiously listened to the expert testimonies of Professor Gillson of the Western University of Pennsylvania (now the University of Pittsburgh) and celebrated chemist Otto Wuth. But the crucial moment came when a servant girl testified that Mrs. Grinder had sent her to purchase antimony. Several other witnesses testified that they, too, had fallen ill after dining or drinking tea with Martha Grinder. These included Mrs. Phillips (Mary Carothers' mother), Nancy McCune, Mrs. Ashbaugh, Charlotte Grinder (George and Samuel's sister), Mrs. McBride, Mrs. Morningstar, Mrs. Reynolds, and Margaret Smith and her three children. Pittsburgh newspaper reporter William J. Lytle remarked, in 1930, that "the record of the trial reads like an account of an epidemic."

She was sentenced by Judge James P. Sterrett on November 25 and was to be hanged the following January. But there was still hope for Martha; Governor Curtin was opposed to capital punishment and it was whispered that he might give her a reprieve. He did not. When Sheriff John H. Stewart entered her cell and read the death warrant, Martha screamed hysterically at the realization of her fate.

On two occasions, Martha attempted to poison herself while in jail awaiting her execution. The first time, her life was saved by a prison physician. The second time, she did not actually take the poison-- it had been discovered inside her cell before she had an opportunity to cheat the hangman. An unidentified individual (who some believe to have been Mrs. Grinder's attorney) had evidently smuggled the poison into the jail. The bottle was found behind a picture frame in her cell, along with a note that read: We have done all for you that we can. This is a last resort. The note was signed, "A Friend".

Martha recovered her composure the night before her execution, meticulously arranging her hair to make herself presentable for her dance with death. On January 19, 1866, Martha walked to the scaffold, where she declared, "I am a great, great sinner, but Christ is a great, great Savior." She remained calm as her arms were pinioned. "I am going to heaven and I hope to meet you there," she said to the sheriff before he placed the rope around her neck. After her face was covered with a white hood, the trap was sprung at one o'clock and Martha dropped, though, on her descent, the rope slipped a little and death was caused by strangulation. After thirty minutes, Martha's body was cut down and she was buried at Hilldale Cemetery (also known as Union Dale cemetery) later that night, under the cover of darkness.

 

 

Before her execution, Martha signed a confession acknowledging guilt in the cases of Mary Carothers and Jane Buchanan, but denied killing her daughter. However, it was believed that 12 persons may have been fatally-- and intentionally- poisoned by Martha Grinder. There is evidence to support this claim, as the body of Samuel Grinder was exhumed and its stomach contents analyzed. Sure enough, a lethal amount of arsenic was discovered.

That her poisoning operations have been carried on for many years we have no doubt, reported the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on September 16, 1865. Perhaps no complete record of their extent and fatality will ever be written, except upon the book of the Recording Angel.

While no complete record of Martha Grinder's crimes was ever written, that didn't stop opportunistic publishers from attempting to cash in on the sensational story. On January 23, 1866-- just four days after Martha's execution-- publisher John P. Hunt & Co. ran newspaper advertisements hawking The Life and Confessions of Martha Grinder, The Poisoner.

 

Sources:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 16, 1865.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 27, 1865.
Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, Jan. 23, 1866.
Ebensburg Alleghenian, Jan. 25, 1866.
Pittsburgh Press, Nov. 15, 1910.
Pittsburgh Press, July 29, 1930.