Unknown Gender History: Gender Cleansing in 1940

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Gender Cleansing in 1940 - Mary Orban, Pennsylvania

FULL TEXT (Article 1 of 2): Wilkes-Barre, Pa.— A two-year-old boy died in a hospital early today from the effects of a pint of caustic laundering solution which his mother is charged with forcing down his throat so he wouldn’t "grow up and attack girls.”

Mrs. Mary Orban, 34, whom District Attorney Leon Schwartz described as “sort of a hex doctor,” was jailed on an attempted murder charge; several hours before the child’s death, Schwartz said she would be examined by a sanity commission.

At; a brief hearing the woman, mother of three other children – all girls – testified she called her son to the basement of their Newport township home yesterday and forced him to swallow, the fluid because “he wouldn’t be any good anyway when he grew up.”

“I killed four other people with my charm,” she added, “but that was nine years ago. I just wished them dead. I don’t do that any more.”

The “charm,” she explained, was a black bead tied in a handkerchief, over which she mumbled strange “gypsy” words.

Mrs. Orban told Schwartz and Judge John J. Aponick that she regarded male children as “no good” because they impose on girls when they grow up.

[“Vents Wrath On Males On 2-Year-Old - Mother Forces Boy To Shallow Caustic Potion Which Kills,” syndicated (AP), The Hutchinson News (Ka.), Mar. 27, 1940, p. 1]

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FULL TEXT (Article 2 of 2): Wilkes-Barre, Pa., March 29. – Mrs. Mary Orban, 34, purported “hex doctor” who killed her two-year-old son with a dose of ammonia because she thought he “wouldn’t be any good when he grew up,” was committed today to the Retreat mental hospital.

A prison lunacy commission composed of Drs. George Baskett and Stanley Freman reported to the court yesterday that the woman was “hopelessly unbalanced” and likely could not be cured. Neighbors testified that they had seen strange actions by the woman.

Judge John Aponiek pronounced her insane and ordered her committed to the hospital.

The district attorney’s office announced that a formal murder charge would be preferred and an indictment obtained at the next grand jury session as a legal formality.

[“Woman Is Sent To Mental Hospital,” The Daily News (Huntington, Pa.), Mar. 29, 1940, p. 1]

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FULL TEXT (Mar. 27, 1940, Wilkes-Barre Record): Two-year-old Frank Orban died early today in Nanticoke General Hospital from the effects of a pint of washing ammonia poured down his tiny throat by Mrs. Mary Orban, 34, his mother, described by police as a “hex doctor.”

The mother whose home is at 84 Prospect Hill, Alden, Newport Township, was committed to Women’s Detention Prison without bail at 4 yesterday afternoon after she told Judge John P. Aponick and District Attorney Leon Swartz, “he wouldn’t be any good anyway when he grew up.”

Mrs. Orban, mother of three daughters and the critically ill son., was questioned at length by the court and the district attornety and said “before I stopped nine years ago I killed four persons.” She explained that she “killed” the persons “by wishing them dead” and used a black bead in a white handkerchief as a deadly weapon. Questioning developed that the mother did not touch these persons. She said “I just wished and they died.”

Reluctant to talk about the attempt to murder, the formal charge placed against her, Mrs. Orban said that to her was of thinking male children are “no good” because they grow up and impose on girls.

District Attorney Schwartz, through persuasive methods, learned that the mother poured the ammonia down the child’s throat after she called him down to the cellar.

“Why did you use ammonia?” the judge asked.

“It was a poison and all I had,” the mother answered.

~ Husband Good Provider ~

District Attorney Schwartz learned from the mother that her husband, Frank Orban, is regularly employed and is a good provider for the family. The mother said she had plenty of food for the children.

“Was the child a cripple, was it crying or in ill health?” the prosecutor asked.

“No,” was the answer.

Shortly before the judge committed the mother to the prison to await the appointment of a commission, she softened her tone of voice and after repeated questioning as to whether he would like to see her son live she said:

“I guess I am sorry I did it. I hope he lived.”

District Attorney Schwartz unfolded the entire story given to him by Sergt. J. W. Rule and Patrolman Matt Forgach of Newport Police and County Detective Henry Jones.

He said at 10:30 yesterday morning neighbors heard “blood-chilling” screams from within the Orban home. When they investigated they found the child writhing in pain. A physician was summoned and ordered the child to the hospital.

Sergt. Rule and Forgach received a call at 11 a. m. from the hospital went to the home for further investigation. They believed at first that the child had been given the ammonia by mistake.

Sergt. Rule said the mother made it clear to him that she meant to poison the child.

He said the mother, in a rambling conversation, said that female children are all right, but that male children grow up to impose upon girls.

Sergt. Rule said the mother repeated “He (the son) wouldn’t have been any good when he grew up.”

~ Offers Gilty Plea ~

Mrs. Orban wasw taken before Justice of the Press Louis Kutz at Newport and she pleaded guilty to a charge of attempt to murder (infanticide).

The mother was then brought before Judge Aponick by District Attorney Schwartz, who said “because of unusual nature of the case he wanted the court to get a clear picture of the circumstances.”

Questioning in the judge’s chambers caused Mrs. Orban to tell of her strange beliefs.

She said at one point during the hearing “I wasn’t born to be married and have children.”

The mother said she loved her daughters. “They are all right,” she declared.

Asked if she would demonstrate how she poured the ammonia down her son’s throat, the mother took one of Judge Aponick’s law books. She cuddled the book in her left arm and with her right hand demonstrated how she tilted the bottle and poured the liquid. “Some of it went over his neck,” she said.

Mrs. Orban steadfastly asserted that the child was not misbehaving, crying or “making a fuss” when she decided to call him into the cellar and pour the ammonia down his throat.

“Have you had any desires recently to wish any persons to their death?” Prosecutor Schwartz asked the mother.

“No, I stopped that nine years ago,” she said.

~ Laughed at Woman ~

“And the used to laugh at me when I showed them my black bead in the white handkerchief,” Mrs. Orban said in relating that relatives and friends did not take her “wishing deaths” seriously.

At no time during the hearing did the mother cry or show signs of emotion. She answered questions point blank and when told several times by First Assistant Prosecutor Mitchell Jenkins that the son was “serious” she merely said “Yes?”

Court officials commented about the appearance of the mother, who was dressed in black.

[“Boy, 2, Dies While Mother Is Held in Jail Charged With Giving Infant Poison – Glen Lyon ‘Hex Doctor,’ Who Says She ‘Killed’ Persons by ‘Wishing Them Dead,’ Admits She Wanted to Get Rid of Boy,” Wilkes-Barre Record (Pa.), Mar. 27, 1940, Sec. 2, p. 1]

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FULL TEXT (Mar. 28, 1940, Wilkes-Barre Record): Not until she is arraigned before Judge John J. Aponick at 2 this afternoon on a charge of murder will Mrs. Mary Orban, 34, of Prospect Hill, Alden, know that her two-year-old son Frank died yesterday morning from the effects of ammonia she admits having poured down his throat Tuesday morning. Bench warrant charging the Newport Township woman with infanticide was issued yesterday by Judge Aponick at the instance of the District Attorney who said that at today’s hearing the mother will not be permitted to enter a plea of guilty.

A few hours after the child died in Nanticoke Hospital yesterday morning, machinery of the court was set in motion to arraign the mother, who told Judge Aponick and District Attorney Leon Schwartz Tuesday afternoon that she had purposely given the boy ammonia “because he wouldn’t be any good when he grow up, anyway.”

Dr. Lewis S. Reese, county coroner, performed a post mortem examination of the baby’s body yesterday. His written report will be given to the court this afternoon. The child’s stomach was almost completely destroyed by the ammonia, his lips had been burned and his face partially disfigured.

A sanity commission composed of Dr. George T. Baskett, superintendent of Retreat Hospital, and Dr. Stanley Freeman, city, was assigned by the court yesterday to examine the woman. Their report also will be given to Judge Aponick this afternoon.

Warden William B. Healey reported that Mrs. Orban was apparently calm and collected yesterday at the women’s detention prison on North River Street but officials decided not to tell her that the boy had died during the early morning hours in the hospital.

County detectives investigating the case reported yesterday that Mrs. Orban, who has three other children, all girls and aged 7, 9 and 10, had suffered a nervous breakdown last September. Neighbors and relatives told the detectives that she had “acted queer” before and after the breakdown. Her husband, the court was informed by the District Attorney’s staff, is a steady worker and a good provider.

At the courthouse yesterday officials and detectives accustomed to checking to checking details of brutal crimes showed obvious shock at the statements of Mrs. Orban during her investigation on Tuesday before Judge Aponick. Several times during the examination, the woman said she had deliberately poured about a pint of ammonia down the child’s throat, explaining that in her opinion “male children are no good because they grow up to impose on girls.” The woman also claimed to have “killed” four persons. She told the court that she had “wished them dead” and used a black bead in a white handkerchief as a deadly charm, although she insisted she did not touch the persons with her “hex charm.” She told the District Attorney “I just wished and they died” but insisted she had “stopped all that nine years ago.”

[“Mrs. Mary Orban Will Learn Of Child’s Death When She Is Arraigned In Court Today – Alden Woman Does Not Know 2-Year-Old Son Died from Effects of Ammonia She Admits Having Poured Down His Throat,” Wilkes-Barre Record (Pa.), Mar. 27, 1940, Sec. 2, p. 1]

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FULL TEXT (Mar. 29, 1940, Wilkes-Barre Record): Mrs. Mary Orban, 34, of 84 Prospect Hill, Alden, thought that by killing her two-year-old son, Frank, Jr., with poison she was benefitting the world at large, Dr. Stanley Freeman, prison physician for 25 years, told Judge John J. Aponick yesterday afternoon at the preliminary arraignment of the mother, who was committed to Retreat Mental Hospital without bail on a charge of murder. District Attorney Leon Schwartz pleaded “not guilty” for the murder.

Although not told that her son died in Nanticoke State Hospital Wednesday morning at 1, Mrs. Orban said “Yes” when asked by District Attorney Leon C. Schwartz if she knew that the child had died.

Dr. Freeman and Dr. George T. Baskett, superintendent of Retreat and a specialist in mental work since 1908, submitted to Judge Aponick a report stating that the mother is insane and irresponsible. The mother was called to testify.

Mrs. Orban was arrested Tuesday morning at 10:30, an hour after, police say, she poured nearly a pint of washing amonia down the throat of her son.

~ Few Hear Testimony ~

Approximately 400 persons jammed Judge Aponick’s courtroom for the preliminary arraignment, but the testimony was taken in chambers, with only authorities and members of the press permitted to attend.

Dr. Beskett testified that the mother probably committed the crime in response to hallucinations and delusions. He said she hears voices talking to her and firmly holds in her mind false beliefs. Dr. Baskett said the mother has the dementia praecox type of insanity in his opinion.

Asked by District Attorney Leon Schwartz, was presided for the Commonwealth at the araignment, whether the mother knew right from wrong, Dr. Baskett said it was not likely in respect to the poisoning of her son and that if she did she couldn’t control herself.

District Attorney Schwartz questioned Dr. Freeman, who said that the mother should be committed to an “insane institution permanently” and that her recovery is very questionable. He said that the urge of the mother to murder the son probably overcame her sense of right and wrong.

~ Neighbor Describes Incident ~

Mrs. Sophia Rokosz, who lives on the other side of the double dwelling, said she rushed into the Orban cellar Tuesday morning at 9:30 after she heard screams. Mrs. Rokosz said she said she saw the baby in Mrs. Orban’s arms moaning and closing its eyes and she said Mary, what did you do?” The witness said Mrs. Orban answered “I did not do anything, I want baby to die.” Testifying that she smelled a strong odor, Mrs. Rokosz said she told her daughter to get help and that the baby had been poisoned.

Mrs. Josephine Keller, another neighbor was called by District Attorney Schwartz and testified that she went to the home in response to shouts of Mrs. Rokosz’s daughter. She said she opened the cellar door of the Orban home cautiously because she did not know whether the mother would do something to her. She asked the mother, she said, what was the matter and Mrs. Orban said “Don’t be afraid. I want baby to die.”

Learning of antidotes when a neighbor child had taken poison several years previous, Mrs. Keller said she started to give the baby milk when she determined that it had been poisoned because its face was blue and the lips very red. Milk did no good, according to Mrs. Keller, and whites of eggs were used. Mrs. Keller said Mrs. Orban got the eggs for her from a cupboard.

While the neighbor women were administering antidotes, Mrs. Keller said, the mother told them “He (the son) would impose on me and I would have to go out with him.” Later starch was used. Mrs. Keller said, “but nothing came up.” This was before the arrival of a physician.

Mrs. Keller said she turned to Mrs. Orban and said “What did you give the child?” The mother went into the cellar and returned with a bottle of ammonia, nearly empty.

~ Has Two Nervous Breakdowns ~

At this point District Attorney Schwartz presented the bottle as evidence and asked Mrs. Keller if she had read the antidotes suggested lemons or oranges and I sent to my home for lemons.” [sic; the error is copied as printed]

When a physician arrived he ordered the child to Nanicoke State Hospital, Mrs. Keller said.

Mrs. Anna Armstrong, sister of the defendant, testified that her sister had a nervous breakdown nine years ago and suffered another in October. At that time a physician recommended she be committed to an institution, but relatives opposed it, the sister said.

The sister sternly testified that Frank Orban, husband of the defendant, who did not appear at the arraignment, beat his wife and on one occasion dragged her by the head of the hair from the kitchen to the parlor. The sister said the defendant suffered a breakdown at that time.

Chief County Detective Richard Powell and Deputy Chief Joseph Miller, who handled the investigation were not called to testify. Only police authority called was County Detective Henry Jones, who the crime and readily admitted that she poisoned her son.

Asked by the district attorney as to the motive expressed by the mother, Detective Jones said she merely stated that “boys are no good” and expressed the opinion that when her son grew up he would “do things to her and other girls.”

[“Mrs. Orban Is Committed To Retreat Hospital on Charge of Murdering Son – Psychiatrists Inform Court Alden Woman Has Dementia Praecox Type of Insanity; Not Guilty Plea Is Entered for Mother,” Wilkes-Barre Record (Pa.), Mar. 29, 1940, Sec. 2, p. 1]

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SEE: Maternal Filicide: Spousal Revenge Motive for similar cases

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The 2011 disclosure by men’s rights activists of misandric writings on Pamela O’Shaughnessy’s progressive website RedFemHub included a post by Australian child care provider whose cultural Marxism causes her to view the little boys she is paid to look after as dangerous beings, using such terms as “Mr. Rape Threat” to describe the children who belong to the hated sex. A child of the preferred sex is – in the mind of this utopian cultural Marxist – to be conceived of as “Ms. Harassment Victim.”

See: Robert O’Hara, “Radfem Hub: the underbelly of a hate movement,” A Voice for Men, Dec. 16, 2011

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