Crimes in Herstory (Blog Series) -- Milk As A Tool of Revenge: The Story of Mary Wallis
WC Blogpost by: Goldie and K.U.W.V.
Having studied many cases of female crime so far this semester, the case of Mary Wallis proves particularly interesting. The story is tightly intertwined with gender and race, as are most cases in criminal herstory. The object of the crime - poisoned milk - makes this a story like no other. The weapon, so passive and seemingly mundane. The victim, an innocent infant that wasn’t even Mary’s. This case is a story of petty revenge ultimately resulting in the death of two people, both the infant and Mary herself.
The Story of the Tainted Milk
The story of Mary Wallis is one that has not stood the test of time. While one-of-a-kind, riveting, and unique, Mary’s story has not been discussed or mentioned in any official documents, newspapers, articles, or blogs since the 1870’s. Mary Wallis was an African American domestic servant–and former enslaved – raised 5 miles east of Beltsville, Maryland.1 In 1870, Mary Wallis was 17 years old and working for Albert M. Read, a clerk in the Treasury Department of the U.S. government. In the summer of 1870, the Read family moved from Washington D.C. to Upper Marlboro, Prince George’s, Maryland into the home of B.D. Fabian. Mary worked in various homes in Beltsville after the war. When the Read family moved into town, she started working for them as a domestic servant. Unfortunately, her time working for the Read family was far from smooth.2
Not long after Mary began working for the Read family, things started to get bumpy. On July 2nd, 1870, Mary Wallis was caught stealing clothes from the Read child’s nurse. The nurse immediately confronted her in the act of stealing. Mrs. Fabian soon found out and fired Mary, telling her she must leave the next day. As can be assumed, Mary was quite upset from this news, and grew in contempt with the nurse. Yet, how she chose to react took the situation to a whole new level. Mary had devised a plan, which in her mind was foolproof, but would soon take an even darker twist. That very night, after Mary’s heated confrontation with Mrs. Fabian, Mary devised a plan to poison the nurse. Mary was told to boil milk so the child could be fed throughout the night. In an attempt to kill the nurse, Mary decided to poison the milk.
A boy was witness to her adding powder from a mysterious bottle to the milk. In Mary’s mind, she thought that the nurse would possibly die from sampling the milk or be accused of murdering the infant. Yet, her plan went severely off track. At 1 AM on Sunday, the baby was awoken and given the milk, only drinking a little before rejecting the rest. Mrs. Read and Mrs. Fabian tested the milk and noticed it was bitter. While the baby only had a small amount of milk, it was too late and he died in severe pain within 30 minutes. Mrs. Read suffered similar pains but made a full recovery. Doctors on the scene found strychnine in the milk. Strychnine is a bitter, white powder. Even in small doses, it is highly toxic and even deadly to humans; it is no wonder the baby died within the hour. An undisclosed witness states that he saw Mary being taken into custody. She soon confessed to poisoning the milk in order to get even with the nurse. Mary was prosecuted for poisoning the nine-month-old infant.3
Mary’s trial was held on August 24th and 25th. She was found guilty for first-degree murder. In December of the same year, Maryland Governor Bowie, signed the death warrant and set an execution date for February 10th, 1871. 4 One reporter said, “Her conduct in the courtroom and seeming indifference to her fate led to the belief that she was either an imbecile or was insane.”5 These terms are common tags for women who have been accused of crime throughout history. A recommendation of mercy was even presented to the jury. In regards to Mary’s childhood, it was said she had “fits of sullenness,” but as she got older, they were less frequent, but more “threatening in their character.” The belief in her insanity led to the creation of a petition, which was signed by some of the “best citizens” of the country and presented to Governor Bowie. An official statement from Governor Bowie regarding the petition was either never put out or not available/mentioned online. It can likely be assumed that Governor Bowie gave the petition little to no regard as Mary was hanged at her original execution date of February 10th, 1871. While Mary committed an evil and inexcusable crime, it is important to analyze her situation. Mary was an African-American domestic servant, working in a new home to make ends meet. It is likely that she faced backlash her entire life for being an African-American woman not only in the late 1800’s but barely years from finding freedom beyond slavery. The constant abuse and injustice throughout her entire life likely could very well have led her to snap. It is difficult for the average reader in the 21st century to understand her situation, although it is quite easy to take an outsider stance and just see her as a heartless monster. The newspaper articles that were put out in the 1870’s painted her out to be this unfeeling killer. Never was her family or personal life mentioned further marking her as unattached and lacking typical compassion. This was likely carried over into the courtroom, where all she was viewed as was a monster. As mentioned previously, her plea of insanity was never taken into consideration.
The Non-Legacy of Mary Wallis
Mary’s story has been forgotten and confined over the years.
This information cannot be found outside of historical newspapers. A simple Google search of the name “Mary Wallis” yields nothing related to the case. It is only with added keywords like “Maryland” and “1871” that links to archives and newspapers come up. Unless someone knows what they are looking for, they won’t come across Mary’s story. This almost complete erasure of herstory is, unfortunately, very common.
The fading of this story from collective memory can be attributed to several factors. In many cases, female history tends to be de-emphasized in basic curriculums. The lack of known female criminals is partly due to this overall trend. In the case of Mary, her position as a black female, domestic servant, and former bondperson make her story even less potent since the history of racial minorities also, unfortunately, tends to be forgotten and thus sidelined in America. Further, Mary’s story is neither a happy one or a super sensationalized one. The crime happened in the confines of a private home and the method of murder was a fairly passive one. None of these aspects make the story particularly shocking, which tends to be the nature of many of the better remembered true crime cases.
Bad or Mad?
Women criminals of the time, including Mary Wallis, were often assumed to be mentally inadequate or disturbed. In the 1800s, women were seen as weak and delicate compared to men and, therefore, were less likely to commit violent crimes. Female criminals both broke the law and shattered the essential tenets of femininity, which could only be explained by some kind of mental deficiency or fundamental character flaw, in the eyes of 19th century society. 6 In class, we talked about how female criminals were both defeminized and dehumanized. During Mary’s time, females were often defined wholly on their embodiment of traditional ideas of a proper, poised woman. In committing criminal acts, females deny this traditional definition of femininity, stripping them of this identity altogether. They are further dehumanized as a virtue of both their defeminization and the criminal system itself. Essentially, female criminals broke away from both traditional ideas of femininity and criminality, which left them in a category of their own, often explained under the umbrella concept of madness.
Arguments of insanity played varying roles in deciding the punishment or sentence of female criminals. The article “Mad Enough to KIll: Enslaved Women, Murder, and Southern Courts” by scholar Wilma King talks about multiple examples of female criminals where arguments surrounding potential insanity either exonerated or further criminalized the offender. America was one of five enslaved individuals involved in the murder of their owner, Hiram Beasley.7 Two of the involved men were convicted of murder in the second degree for bludgeoning Beasley with an ax. They were whipped and sold to another owner. Mary, a female who struck Beasley twice across the face with the ax, was not sentenced in any capacity. The court found both America and her husband guilty of first-degree murder, on account of America delivering the first blow. America was described as the “antithesis of acceptable female behavior” and a “fit subject for the bloodiest deed”. She was thought to be “experiencing a psychotic break” in the courtroom since she showed little emotion during her sentencing. America was portrayed as “utterly reckless and indifferent to her awful fate” essentially characterizing her as completely mad. This insanity did not work to relinquish responsibility but rather painted her as an even more dangerous criminal than others. On the other hand, Nelly was given a stay of execution on the grounds of temporary insanity. Nelly murdered her infant child, of an unknown father (although it was likely her owner who had frequent sexual relations with Nelly). It was decided that postpartum psychosis or madness likely “interfered with Nelly’s ability to make a rational decision.”8 Nelly was found guilty but was ultimately not executed when petitioners questioned whether she had “sufficient mind or information to understand to constituents of the crime.” It was concluded that Nelly was temporarily insane and “unfit” due to her “little mind.”
Mary’s case lies somewhere in between these two. Like America, Mary was seen as somewhat indifferent to her fate. And like Nelly, a petition was created and signed by respectable citizens citing her mental insufficiency as a reason to exonerate her. In the case of Mary, petitioning and arguments of insanity did not work in her favor. It is unclear exactly why in the source material. Mary’s case is a further example of the herstorical connection between gender, mental illness, and criminality. In killing an infant, Mary especially breaks from the “ideal woman” who was both nurturing and motherly. At least in her portrayal, she was seemingly indifferent to the infant’s death being collateral in her revenge ploy. In the eyes of 19th-century ideas, insanity was the only plausible explanation for this enigma.
Conclusion
While the crime Mary committed was unjustifiable, understanding her circumstances as an African-American indentured servant is necessary. An important question to ask is whether anything could have been done to prevent this horrible criminal act. She was very obviously pushed over the edge, but societal treatment of African-American women most definitely played a massive role in the buildup of her frustration. If this event happened now, in the 21st century, many aspects of this case would change; although, many would remain the same. Media coverage would now go in-depth into Mary’s life. Yet, as an African American and a woman she would still be viewed as a monster.
ENDNOTES
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Works Cited
Blanco, Juan Ignacio. “U.S. Executions - 1871.” DeathPenaltyUSA, the Database of Executions in the United States, https://deathpenaltyusa.org/usa1/date/1871.htm. Accessed 2 Oct. 2023.
King, Wilma. “‘Mad’ Enough to Kill: Enslaved Women, Murder, and Southern Courts.” The Journal of African American History, vol. 92, no. 1, Jan. 2007, pp. 37–56,
The Baltimore Sun, February 9, 1871.
Segrave, Kerry. Women and Capital Punishment in America, 1840-1899: Death Sentences and Executions in the United States and Canada. McFarland, 2008.
The Baltimore Sun, 11 Feb 1871, Page 4.
The New York Times. “Execution of Mary Wallis State of the Culprit for Some Time Before the Execution.” The New York Times, 11 Feb. 1871.
Zedner, Lucia. “Women, Crime, and Penal Responses: A Historical Account.” Crime and Justice, vol. 14, 1991, pp. 307–62.
The Star-Democrat, August 11, 1874.
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