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Wednesday, October 7, 2015

The Forgotten Serial Killers: Child Care Providers (“Baby Farmers”) Who Murdered Children


baby farm1.) a place that houses and takes care of babies for a fee. 2.) a residence for unwed pregnant girls or women that also arranges adoptions.

Most of the baby farmers listed her were serial killers. Several notable cases involving murder and abuse by baby farmers that are not serial killer cases.

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Abbott, Evelyn (USA), 1891 – scores of babies died.
Alexe, Smaranda Alexe (Romania), 1912 –
Andrasen, Fru (Norway), 1901 – 27 infants died.
Ashmead, Elizabeth (USA), arrested 1904, 1909, 1911 – 100s of babies died.
Atherton, Dr. Bessie (USA), (with Cramer), 1926 – 3 dead babies discovered.
Bamberger, Henrietta (USA), 1899 – midwife; 300 est; conv of 1 abort-murder of mother.
Banks, Leila (USA), 1925 – 3 babies died.
Barnes, Catherine (England), 1879 – 3 babies died.
Barthian, Mme. (France), 1893 – 25 babies died.
Batten, Annie (Australia), 1904 – “alleged wholesale infanticide.”
Batts, Ellen (Australia), 1889 – 3 babies murdered.
Bednerek, Ghelente (Josefa) (Poland), 1892 – 15 bodies found.
Bellears, Mary (Australia), 1904 – multiple killings.
Bilien, Valentina (Germany), 1946 – 114 babies killed by severe neglect.
Binmore, Bessey (England) – 1875  – 4 deaths
Blair, Anne (Australia), 1870 – 1 baby died.
Blicenzyk, Marie (Poland), 1907 – multiple deaths.
Blochberger, Antoine (Austria), 1899 – 4 (?) deaths.
Boehme, Frau (Germany), 1912 – 4 deaths.
Breszczak, Marianna (Poland), 1908 – multiple deaths.
Bronzo, Rosa (Italy), 1879 – “several bodies.”
Breitschwart, Christine (USA), 1892 – 4 babies abandoned in streets in winter, 1 died.
Budzinska, Viktoria (Ukraine), 1915 – 11 deaths.
Calahan, Julia (USA), 1871 – 3 babies died.
Campbell, Nellie (USA), arrested 1902 – 8 babies died.
Chard-Williams, Ada (England), 1899 – 1 baby died (executed).
Chartier, Eleonote Vauthier (France), 1906 – 1,500 babies died.
Chivers, Daisy Ellen (England), 1928 – 1 baby murdered; suspicion of others.
“Christiana Baby Farmers” (Norway), 1902 – “a small army of tiny corpses were dug up.”
Claus, Charles & Catherine (USA), 1890 – 5 babies died.
Clayton, Madge (Australia), 1908 – 6 babies died.
“Cologne Baby Farmer” (Germany), 1902 – 50 babies died.
Compton, Mary (England), 1673 – willfully starved 4 children (executed).
Connelly, Matilda (USA), 1912 – 4 babies died.
Cooper, Martha & Daniel (New Zealand), 1922 – 3 dead babies discovered.
“Copenhagen Baby Farm Couple” (Denmark), 1860 – 23 babies died.
Cramer, Marie (USA), (with Atherton), 1926 – 3 dead babies discovered.
"Croatian Angelmaker" (Croatia), 1913 – 6 deaths.
Day, Gertrude (USA), 1914 – unsolved mystery.
Dean, Minnie (New Zealand), 1895 – 3 babies & 1 toddler died (executed).
De Jesus, Luisa (Portugal), 1772 – poisoned to death 28 babies (executed).
Delaware, Miss (New Zealand), 1889 – many babies killed.
Dellavoda, Therese Komjalhy (Hungary), 1897 – multiple deaths.
Delpech, Anne Gaillard (France), 1868 – murdered 10 babies.
Dieden, Maude (USA), 1929 – 10 babies died.
Douglas, Amy (England), 1899 – 3 babies died from starvation.
Duda & Dudek (Bohemia, Czech), 1893 – 14 babies died.
Dunn, Honora (Australia), 1881 – multiple babies abused & murdered.
Dunne, Maria (Ireland), 1898 – 3 babies died.
Dupin, Anne (France), 1869 – 40+ deaths.
Duplaca, Frau (Poland), 1901 – multiple deaths.
Dutschak, Domnika (Ukraine), 1891 – multiple deaths.
Dyer, Amelia (England), 1896 – 100s of babies died (executed).
Eckhardt, Wilhelmena (USA), 1906 – 12 babies died.
“Erenfeld Angel-maker” (Germany), 1902 – 50+.
Faure, Madame (France), 1908 – 81 deaths.
Feddern, Frau (Germany), 1898 – 25 deaths.
Firletowna, Marianne (Poland), 1878 – 4 deaths, far more suspected.
Fortmeyer, Julia (USA), 1875 – 3-100 babies murdered.
Gabler, Anna (Austria), 1896 – multiple "disappeared" babies.
Geisen-Volk, Helen (USA), 1925 – 53 babies died.
Gobay, Annie & Emma Kitchen (USA), 1903 – at least 3 babies died.
Grammage, Augusta (England), 1875 – convicted of murdering a child.
“Grey Nuns of Montreal” (Canada), 1876 – 631 babies died.
Gunness, Belle (USA), 1908 – 21 babies “disappeared.”
Guy, Mary Ann (New Zealand), 1906 – convicted of manslaughter for one death.
Guzovska, Madame (Poland), 1903 – “over 500” babies died.
Gyorgyevits, Frau (Hungary), 1894 – 20+ deaths.
Gyulai, Therese Gyulai (Hungary), 1900 – Nagy-Koros, Hungary
Hall, Mary Ann (England), 1892) – 
“Hameln Angel-Maker” (Germany), 1902 – multiple deaths.
Hanson, Annie (USA), 1892 – at least 5 babies died.
Haven, Nellie Haven & Hattie Graham (USA), 1892 – San Francisco, California, USA
Hawkins, Laura & Nettie Van Sarver (USA), 1917 – 1 known death.
Heinz, Laura Heinz (Hungary), 1899 –
Hill, Abigall (England), 1658 – 4 deaths (executed).
Hoerl, Katharina (Austria), 1874 – 14 babies murdered.
Holmen, Mrs. (Sweden), 1906 – over 1,000 babies died.
Ishikawa, Miyuki  (Japan), 1948 – 103 babies died.
Jager, Mari Azalai (Hungary), 1895 – a very large number of babies died.
Jarenkiewicz (Ukraine), 1887 – 10 babies died.
Johannesen, Fru (Norway), 1901 – 27 infants.
Josefowitsch, Marie (Ukraine), 1902 – 8 deaths.
Juhass, Mary Orban (Hungary), 1885 – multiple deaths.
Julien, Victoire Veysseire (France), 1867 – midwife, many victims.
Kadletz, Frau (Czech Republic), 1906 – 50 victims.
“Kherson Angel-Maker” (Ukraine), 1900 – 6 baby corpses.
Kirkbride, Elizabeth (England), 1877 – Liverpool, England
King, Jessie (Scotland), 1889 – 3 babies died (executed).
Knorr, Frances (Australia), 1894 – from 3 to an estimated 13 babies died (executed).
Knowles, Emma, Emma (England), 1901 – 25
Konopkova, Marianne (Poland), 1906 – 30 babies died.
Kreis Children’s Home: Ella Schmidt, Liesel Bachor, Kathe Pisters (Ger.), 1946 – 370 babies. 
Kühnel, Marie (Austria), 1907 – 7 deaths
Kusnezowa, Madame (Russia) 1913 – 1,012 babies died.
Lacroix, Diana (Canada), 1927 – 7 babies died.
Laphame, Belinda (USA), 1893 – 3 or 4 babies killed, kept in jars; others killed.
Larsson, Olivia Charlotta (Sweden), 1912 – 1 death; 2 rescued from starvation.
Laskowskiej, Julji, “Baba Ljuskowska” (Ukraine), 1893 – many deaths.
“Limburg Baby Farmers” (Germany), 1892 – multiple babies died.
"Lodz Angelmaker" (Poland), 1913 – 40 babies killed.
Lowry, Mary (USA), 1904 – 2 babies died, 3 babies near death.
Ljuskowska (Ukraine), 1893 – hundreds of deaths.
Lynn, Rachel (USA), 1911 – unknown number of babies died.
Mabre, Louise (France), 1763 – 62 babies died (executed).
Makin, Jane (Australia), 1892 – 13 babies died.
Machayie, Mrs. (England), 1884 – 5 deaths.
Maksymischin, Paranka (Galicia (Poland)), 1890 (executed).
McClosky, Margaret (USA), 1876 – 6 babies in starving condition.
McDonald, Cynthia (USA), 1887 – 2 babies died, 2 babies in starving condition.
McKenzie, Emily Charlotte (England) 1884 – many babies died.
Miller, Mrs. A. H. (USA), 1903 – 2 babies died; additional bodies searched.
“Minneapolis Baby Farmer” (USA), 1908 – starving baby rescued.
Minogata, Ischi & Akino Kawabarg (Japan), 1909 – 11 deaths
Mitchell, Alice (Australia), 1907 – 37 babies died.
Mittlestedt, Pauline (USA), 1886 – “professional infant murderess.”
Morris, Jane (USA), 1898 – New York, N. Y.; BF; 5.
Murakina, Alexandra (Russia), 1903 – “numerous” children killed.
Myer, Frau (Germany), 1892 – 58 babies died.
Newman, Isabella (Australia), 1913 – 3 babies died.
“Nijni-Novrogod Nurse” (Russia), 1894 – 17 babies died.
Nilsson, Hilda (Sweden), 1917 – 17 babies died.
Nivison, Symenthe S. (USA), 1884 – 22 babies died.
Nordberg, Alva (Sweden), 1905 – 4 babies died.
Noskina, Feige (Lithuania), 1892 – 65 babies died.
Nowatka, Frau (Germany), 1905 multiple children poisoned to death.
Oberly, Mary (USA), 1887 – 3 deaths.
Olsen, Fru (Norway), 1901 – 27 infants died.
Orban Juhass, Marie (Hungary), 1885 - multiple deaths.
“Osaka Baby Farmers” (Japan), 1902 – 300 babies died.
“Osaka ‘Devil Woman’” (Japan), 1906 – 100 babies murdered.
Osborn, Elizabeth (USA), 1899 – 7 deaths.
Ostrouszko, Caroline (Poland), 1908 – multiple deaths.
Ostrovoskafa, Rachel (Ukraine), 1885 – more than 3 babies died; infanticide cult.
Overbye, Dagmar (Denmark), 1920 – 11 confessed child-murders.
Parr, Agnes (USA), 1877 – multiple babies died.
Pausch, Anna (Austria), 1870 – multiple babies died.
Persson, Maria (Sweden), 1911 – 21+ babies died.
Piard, Annie (USA), 1883 – multiple babies starved to death.
Piersch,Widow (Belbium), 1908 – multiple deaths.
Pilsch, Frau (Belgium), 1908 – 7 babies killed.
Porro, Rose & Margarite Coraldi (Italy), 1873 – 8 babies killed (executed). 
Prussenkowa, Frau (Ukraine), 1901 – multiple deaths.
“Przemysi Baby Farmers” (Poland), 1893 – 27 babies buried in cigar boxes.
Przybylska – (Poland), 1897 – 100 killed in 3 years.
Rakoczy, Elisabeth (Hungary), 1899 – 2 known deaths.
Ravailhe, Widow (France), 1876 – hundreds of babies killed.
Reece, Adelaide (England), 1883 9 deaths.
Reignolds, Mary (USA), 1875 – 5 babies died.
Roberts, Ellen (USA), 1873 – 30 deaths.
Rogers, Frances (England), 1871 – 4 children died, sentenced to 20 years.
Rohm Couple (Denmark), 1909 – 20 deaths.
Roseberry, Edna (USA), 1948 – tortured babies routinely.
Rost, Klara (Germany), 1908 – 10+ deaths.
Sach, Amelia & Annie Walters (England), 1902 – probably 100s of babies died (executed).
Saldakowa, Julia (Galicia, Ukraine), 1903 – 4 deaths.
Sánchez Aguillón, Felícitas (or Sánchez Neyra) (Mexico),1941 40-<100 murders.
Schaubmayr, Marie (Austria), 1917 – 19 deaths.
Schmidt, Midwife (Lower Saxony, Germany), 1897 – 
Schofer, Friederike (Silesia), 1913 – 1,500 deaths.
Scholes, Elizabeth (Australia), 1906 - 2 confirmed dead, probably several more.
Schulkin, Riva (Russia), 1890 – multiple deaths.
Schwartz, Frau (Poland), 1897 – dozens "disappeared."
Schweinhammer, Katharina (Austria), 1901 – 3 deaths.
Seiler, Barbara  (Germany), 1907 – 7 deaths.
Sisters of St. Anne (Italy), 1908 – 143 deaths.
Skoublinska, Marianne (Marianna Skublińska) (Poland), 1890 – 76 babies.
Skrobanetz, Sanda (Austria), 1914 – 4 deaths, several near death.
Spinks, Ann (England), 1898 – at least 2 babies died.
Suffert, Jennie (USA), 1889 – 2 babies dead, 4 dying.
Tanaka, Mrs. & Mrs Juniki (Japan), 1924 – 8 babies murdered by fake foster parents.
Tann, Georgia (USA), 1950 – 1,000s of babies died.
Todd, Sophia Martha (England), 1877 – 5 deaths.
Tooke, Annie (England), 1879 – 1 child murdered & dismembered.
“Turn-Severin Angel-Maker” (Romania), 1939 – 5 deaths.
Turner, Maud (Canada), 1909 – suspected of numerous murders.
Turniak, Marie (Russia), 1912 – "large numbers" killed.
Tydrych, Leontina (Poland), 1927 – 60 babies died.
“Villa Vico Baby Farmer” (Portugal), 1854 – 9 babies died.
“Warasdin Baby Farmers” (Croatia), 1893 torture & maiming, child trafficking.
Ward, Mary Josephine (USA), 1884 at least 10 babies died.
Waters, Margaret (England), 1870 – 5 babies died (executed).
Wiese, Elizabeth (Germany), 1903 – burned babies in stove (executed).
West, Mrs. Fred (Clara West) (USA), 1906 – burned babies alive.
Wilczynska, Josefine (Poland), 1893 – 2 deaths, 4 starving.
Willis, Rhoda (Wales), 1907 – 2 babies died.
Wimmer, Frau (Austria), 1908 – 14+ deaths.
Winsor, Charlotte (England), 1865 – unknown number (executed).
Wogen, Chaja (Poland), 1903 – multiple deaths.
Worcester, Rozilla (USA), 1877 – 6 babies died (in 30 day period).
Wroclawska, Juliana (Poland), 1908 – multiple deaths.
Wühler, Frau (German), 1913 – 11 deaths.
Young, Lila & William (Canada), 1936 – an estimated 400-600 babies died.

193 cases [March 29, 2021]

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NOTE: A few of the cases in the list involve non-serial killers: baby-torturers or providers who are confirmed to have killed only one or two of their charges.

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Murder Method (when known, incomplete list):

Battery – Geisen-Volk, Noskina

Buried Alive – Ashmead, Wiese

Crushed to Death – Winsor

Drown – Delpech, Overbye, Wiese, Noskina (in cesspool)

Drugging / Poisoning – Dean (laudanum), Jager (poison), Kusnezowa (poison), Mabre (arsenic), Reignolds (laudanum), Sach & Walters (chlorodyne), Topper (poison), West (laudanum), Nivison (morphine, belladonna), West (laudanum), Dean (laudanum), Reignolds (laudanum), Waters (laudanum), Luiza de Jesus, Wiese (morphine), King (arsenic), Laphame (opium)

Exposure – Tann (sun), Chivers (cold), Barnes (no clothing), Geisen-Volk (frozen), Breitschwart (frozen) 

Incineration alive – Ashmead, Fortmeyer, Overbye, Stysinski (arson), West, Wiese

Needle into heart° – Makin (needle, heart), Mittlestedt (darning needle, heart)

Neglect – Ishikawa, Mitchell, Nivison, Rogers, Spinks, Waters, Young, McCloskey, Geisen-Volk, Larsson, Nilsson, Persson (incomplete list)

Starvation – Barnes, Barthian, Campbell, Lowry, McClosky, Mitchell, Seifert, Tanaka, Waters, Julien

Strangling by hand or instrument – Chard-Williams*, Claus, Compton, Cooper, Douglas, Dyer, King, Knorr, Ostrovoskafa, Overbye, Turner, Geisen-Volk

Suffocation – Dean, Newman, Winsor, Noskina

Twisting baby’s neck – Eckhardt

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Burned corpses after murder: Asmead, Birney, Chivers, Eckhardt, Overbye, "Vivienne Midwife," West, Wiese

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* Chard-Williams - Stunned, strangled and trussed up with cords
° Similar method used by nursemaid: Schnell (hairpin into brain)

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• Baby Farmers & Baby-Killing Midwives Executed

1763 – Louise Mabre (France)
1772 – Luiza de Jesus (Portugal)
1870 – Margaret Waters (England)
1873 Rose Porro & Margarite Coraldi (Italy)
1896 – Amelia Dyer (England)
1902 – Amelia Sach & Annie Walters (England)
1889 – Jesse King (Scotland)
1903 – Elizabeth Wiese (Germany)
1865 – Catherine Winsor (England)
1907 – Rhoda Willis (Wales)
1895 – Minnie Dean (New Zealand)
1922 – Daniel Cooper (Australia)
1894 – Frances Knorr (Australia)

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For a detailed look at a baby farm visit:


This photograph of Frankie Heath, rescued from a Minneapolis baby farmer,   is taken from this post:

“Minneapolis Baby Farmer” (USA), 1908 – starving baby rescued

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Edith Rendell, The Baby Farmer” (poem),  Kerang New Times (Victoria, Australia), Sep. 24, 1909, p. 4

THE BABY FARMER.

Ye mothers of Australia
O lend your pitying ear
To the wail of helpless infants
That’s borne upon the air.

As ye clasp your own loved darlings
In comfort to your hearts, I
Just think upon the fate of those
Who hear neglect’s cruel smarts.

Unwelcome little strangers
To this cold world they come,
No mother love awaiting them.
No friend, no name, no borne.

Not theirs the fault that brings them,
It is the parent’s sin,
Yet on their helpless bodies
Falls all the wrong and pain.

Who’ll rid me of this burden,
The desperate mother cries,
I cannot, will not face my friends
With shame before my eyes.

An accommodating stranger,
For dross to be paid down,
Takes the tender infant
To nurse him as her own

O luckless little creature.
Thy doom hath now its seal.
The horrors that await thee
The inquest will reveal.

Not by violent measures
She deprives hint of his breath —
By methods known unto the craft
The child is done to death.

Not alone in other states
The baby farmer thrives,
Ev-u in our very midst
She’s sacrificing lives.

She’s not a downcast person.
She’s possessed of many wiles;
She laughs and talks and is quite gay,
But she murders while she smiles.

We seek for population
In countries far away,
Yet human life is wasted
Around us every day.

The care of babes should not be left
To private enterprise
A home should be provided,
Which the state should supervise.

You say an institution
Would foster vice and sin;
How can this be
The evil hath ever with us been.

Ye women of Australia
O stay this fearful wrong,
And by concerted action
Save the helpless throng.

Ye Christian men and women.
Give it your earnest thought
To found a home for waifs and strays,
To which they may be brought.

Root out the baby farmer
By giving her no place,
And free this youthful land of ours
From murder and disgrace.

    Edith Rendell.

[Edith Rendell, The Baby Farmer” (poem),  Kerang New Times (Victoria, Australia), Sep. 24, 1909, p. 4]

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ALSO SEE the related category of Baby-Sitter Serial Killers

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http://www.avoiceformen.com/?s=death+on+the+baby+farm

To learn more details about murderous child care providers in history, including baby farmers, adoption agents and baby sitters, see the 2-part article “Death on the Baby Farm,” by Robert St. Estephe, A Voice for Men, July 16, 2013

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http://unknownmisandry.blogspot.com/2013/06/female-serial-killers-collections.html

SEE MORE: Female Serial Killer Collections

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[21,594-8/22/18; 27,964-10/14/20]
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5 comments:

  1. Robert, your list of deadly baby-farmers contains an entry for “Young, Lila & William (Canada), 1936 – at least 100 babies died”
    Here is a link to an article on that case: http://www.canadiancrc.com/Butterbox_babies.aspx

    That article puts the number of children killed at that baby farm at between four- and six-hundred.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can't bare to read most of this and that final photo made me cry, I am a mother and I can't understand how anyone let alone a woman could ever harm or kill a poor innocent child. I hope you all burn in hell for eternity with demons torturing you every second in the most horrible brutal ways possible.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very good article! We will be linking to this great article on our website. Keep up the great writing.
    Calgary Daycare

    ReplyDelete
  4. My only problem with the list is that names of killers from Poland are mostly mispronounced - up to the point I cannot recognize what those last names could be (and in my country it is usually quite easy to recognize last names). That makes me wonder if those sources were correctly verified. It is also weird that some Polish cases come from German newspapers, and there is no trace of them in Polish newspapers or other media. Looking at the dates (early XX century, before First and Second World Wars), I wonder if they are cases of intentional misinformation, typical when one country tried to make the other one look as bad as possible.

    But that is just a theory (a history theory) made by someone that is not a historian.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1) Older English language sources typically TRANSLITERATE Eastern European names, often mangling the spellings in a wide variety of ways. I have seen some names in 5 different (mis)spellings. This phenomenon is noted in many posts on this site.

      2) The German-languages sources are from the Austrian National Library -- specifically because they are available for free and are bountiful. I have no access to Polish news archives. If the statement is made that the cases do not appear in Polish papers I need to learn who made the attempt to find them and what the archive was.

      3) There is nothing unusual about such cases in European nations, therefore prejudice against Poland as an explanation of the existence of Polish cases would make no sense.

      Delete