By I. M. Foster
New York, 1904. After two years as a coroner’s physician for the city of New York, Daniel O'Halleran is more frustrated than ever. What’s the point when the authorities consistently brush aside his findings for the sake of expediency? So when his fiancée leaves him standing at the altar on their wedding day, he takes it as a sign that it's time to move on and eagerly accepts an offer to assist the local coroner in the small Long Island village of Patchogue.
Though the coroner advises him that life on Long Island is far more subdued than that of the city, Daniel hasn’t been there a month when the pretty librarian, Kathleen Brissedon, asks him to look into a two-year-old murder case that took place in the city. Oddly enough, the case she’s referring to was the first one he ever worked on, and the verdict never sat right with him.
Eager for the chance to investigate it anew, Daniel agrees to look into it in his spare time, but when a fresh murder occurs in his own backyard, he can’t shake his gut feeling that the two cases are connected. Can he discover the link before another life is taken, or will murder shake the peaceful South Shore village once again?
Coroners and Detectives in the Early 20th Century
In 1904, both New York City and Suffolk County had a coroner’s office that was an elected position. Each borough in the city had two coroner’s, except for Manhattan, which I believe had four and Richmond (or Staten Island) which had one. In addition, each coroner was assigned a coroner’s physician to assist in performing autopsies.
You see, in the early twentieth century, the coroner did not have to be a physician, or in fact, have any medical training whatsoever. In a twenty-year period from around 1895 to 1915, New York did count some doctors among their coroners, but the office also included politicians, undertakers, plumbers, saloon keepers, and even a butcher. That’s a grisly thought. At any rate, the position was for a four-year period, though if he rubbed the governor the wrong way, he could find himself out of a job. Sort of like the district attorney could today.
Not necessarily being doctors themselves, you can see why the coroners would be in need of a coroner’s physician to determine the cause of death. To this end, each coroner was appointed one, even those who were physicians in their own rights, such as Dr. Scholer, who was in fact a Manhattan coroner in 1904. Given the growing population of New York, and the duties the coroner was expected to carry out, having a coroners assistant was no doubt a welcome addition for those who possessed a medical degree, and an absolute necessity for those who didn’t.
This is where we meet Daniel O’Halleran. As “Murder on Oak Street” opens, Daniel is employed by the Manhattan Coroner’s Office as a coroner’s physician, though events soon lead him to a similar position on Long Island.
At that time, a coroner’s position was three-fold. First, of course, he was to determine the cause in any death that appeared suspicious in nature. Nothing much has changed there in over a hundred years. Even today, an autopsy is required unless someone has been ill and dies in the hospital or under a doctor’s care. But in the early nineteenth century, it was also the coroner’s job to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death and to issue a warrant for any suspect. In which case, the coroner also had a third responsibility, that of holding an inquest and passing judgement on anyone who was found guilty of the crime.
Daniel’s job as coroner’s physician would have been to assist him in the first step by determining the cause of death and reporting his medical findings back to Dr. Scholer. Alas, with only four coroners to serve a population the size of Manhattan’s, Gustave Scholer likely had a lot on his plate. Thus, Daniel’s frustration with his verdicts not always being acted on.
In Suffolk County, the case load would have been much lighter, but the system was set up much the same. The coroner had jurisdiction over determining the cause of death, but he could also investigate and issue warrants. It was not that way all over New York, however. There was one case involving a criminal who had escaped to Albany, where he was caught. The coroner filled out the extradition papers but was told he didn’t have the authority because he wasn’t a magistrate. Suffolk County district attorney Smith replied that the coroner most certainly did, but still ended up rewriting the request himself as the Albany authorities wouldn’t budge on the matter.
Things would soon be changing, however. Within fifteen years, New York City would abolish the coroner’s office and replace it with a medical examiner who was required to be a physician. Today, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner requires that they also be pathologists. And they no longer have police or judicial power. That now rests with law enforcement and the district attorney. Their sole job today is to determine the cause in any death that is sudden or of a suspicious nature and determine whether any foul play was involved.
Suffolk County has also changed to the medical examiner model. Today its Office of the Medical Examiner employs seven full-time forensic pathologists in the pathology section alone, and also includes a histology lab, and a medical forensic investigation unit among other divisions. Just as in New York City today, they investigate the crime scene for any clues surrounding the death and turn their findings over to law enforcement. The coroner’s judicial duties are now handled by the district attorney and the court system.
Forensic science didn’t really exist in 1904, at least, not to the extent it does today. That didn’t mean a good doctor couldn’t detect how a person died or find clues as to who committed a murder. After all, the skill of using clues to determine the cause of death goes back to 44 BC when the first autopsy was performed on Julius Caesar, but perhaps that’s the subject of another post.
One final note on things that differed between coroners in 1904 and the medical examiner of today. Along with their salary, the New York City coroner could bill an additional amount of $8.50 for each inquest. While out on Long Island, the coroner’s physician received $10 for each autopsy done, which would equal about $280 in 2023. In 1905, however, Coroner William Gibson petitioned the Suffolk County Board of Supervisors asking that they raise the rate to $15 per autopsy. The Board said they would take in under consideration, so perhaps there is a raise in Daniel’s future.
I. M. Foster is the pen name author Inez Foster uses to write her South Shore Mystery series, set on Edwardian Long Island. Inez also writes historical romances under the pseudonym Andrea Matthews, and has so far published two series in that genre: the Thunder on the Moor series, a time-travel romance set on the 16th century Anglo-Scottish Borders, and the Cross of Ciaran series, which follows the adventures of a fifth century Celt who finds himself in love with a twentieth century archaeologist.
Inez is a historian and librarian, who love to read and write and search around for her roots, genealogically speaking. She has a BA in History and an MLS in Library Science and enjoys the research almost as much as she does writing the story. In fact, many of her ideas come to her while doing casual research or digging into her family history. Inez is a member of the Long Island Romance Writers, the Historical Novel Society, and Sisters in Crime.
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Thank you so much for hosting I. M. Foster today, with such a fascinating guest post.
ReplyDeleteCathie xx
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