Mary Ellen Wilson -The Child Abuse Case that Changed America

In 1864, a child was born in the poorest area of New York City. She was named Mary Ellen and was loved and nurtured for the first months of life. Then the unimaginable happened. Mary Ellen’s father, Thomas Wilson, was killed in the Civil War and her mother could not work and care for her. She boarded Mary Ellen with a woman who took in infants. This was a common practice at the time.

Several months passed and Mrs. Wilson could no longer pay Mary Ellen’s caretaker and she stopped coming to visit. The woman took the toddler to the Department of Charities and abandoned her there. The children were housed in abominable conditions and most did not survive. But someone came for Mary Ellen and the perceived rescuer became her worst nightmare.

Mary and Thomas McCormack became the child’s legal guardians when he claimed to be Mary Ellen’s biological father. She was released to their custody at the age of eighteen months and was legally to be their indentured servant until the age of eighteen.

Thomas McCormack died several months later and Mary soon remarried a man named Francis Connelly. She also began to systematically abuse the little girl. When Mr. Connelly went to work, Mary Ellen was beaten with a two foot horse whip, cut, burned and exposed to extreme weather conditions. Later, neighbors testified to the abuse but no one interfered.

Mary Ellen was kept indoors and never allowed outside. She did not own shoes and had only one dress which she wore constantly. She was beaten if she even looked out the window and was locked in a small closet when Mrs. Connelly left the apartment. Mary Ellen was severally abused and mistreated for seven years.

Then the family moved to another building and a neighbor heard the child’s cries and became alarmed, fearing for her very life. This woman was ill and bedridden. Only a thin wall was between her room and the Connelly apartment so she clearly heard the abuse happening and the child that begged for mercy.

When a mission worker named Etta Wheeler came to visit the sick woman, she related her concerns for the little girl and asked the missionary to help. After several attempts, Mrs. Wheeler gained brief access to the apartment and saw a gaunt, bruised, burned and wounded Mary Ellen. She had on a thin, worn dress and no stockings or shoes, though it was December and a cold New York winter.

She was horrified and determined to help the little girl. For the next three months, Mrs. Wheeler sought help from police and other authorities to no avail. Children were considered property and few courts would intervene in matter considered private.

Finally, Mrs. Wheeler’s niece suggested she contact the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, stating “she is a little animal surely. Mrs. Wheeler was desperate and went to Mr. Bergh, founder of the Society. He listened to her story but said he could do nothing without proof of the abuse. The devoted Mrs. Wheeler went back to the Hell’s Kitchen tenement and got written statements from residents, including the sick woman, Mary Smitt.

When Mr. Bergh read the evidence, he sent an employee to verify it with his own eyes. The man pretended to be a census taker and was allowed in the apartment where he saw a battered Mary Ellen. He then reported back to Henry Bergh who took immediate action and filed a petition to remove the child from the home.

While he used NYSPCA attorneys, Mr. Bergh made it clear he was pursuing this case as a concerned private citizen and it was not an animal abuse matter. Mr. Bergh was a highly respected member of New York society so his case was given great attention. Court orders were prepared and within 48 hours, Mary Ellen was taken from a screaming and angry Mrs. Connelly.

The case attracted the attention of reporters and they converged upon the courthouse as Mary Ellen was carried into the judge’s chambers wrapped in a blanket as she had no coat to wear. She was still wearing the same dress Mrs. Wheeler had seen her in three months before. She was small, thought to be about six but was actually ten years old.

Mary Ellen’s face was disfigured and she was covered with welts and bruises. Mrs. Connelly had slashed the girl’s face with scissors only the day prior. She was in hysterics because she did not know where she was being taken and had not ever been outside except for the move from one apartment to another. She could not even walk on uneven surfaces, not knowing how to navigate steps and she was fearful that Mrs. Connelly would punish her for what was happening.

Finally she was calmed with a lollipop that a police officer bought for her and told the judge her name which had been unknown until this time. She said she did not know her age and that she was whipped and beaten every day. She had never been kissed or comforted and was terrified of “Mama”.

The court found Mrs. Connelly guilty of felonious assault and she was sent to prison for one year of hard labor. Mary Ellen eventually was sent to Etta Wheeler’s mother where she remained until the elderly woman’s death. She then went to Mrs. Wheeler’s sister who cared for her until adulthood.

Mary Ellen learned to walk, play with toys, become aware of moral behaviors and was taught about God. She had never played with another child or owned a toy and had to learn those social skills. As the years passed, Mary Ellen became a happy girl, then a well adjusted adult.

She was married at age twenty four to a widower and had two children. She named the eldest daughter Etta after her benefactor. From all accounts, Mary Ellen lived a quiet life, rarely referencing her early years of abuse.

She did speak once at a conference of the American Humane Society in 1913. Her address was published by the Society and entitled “The Story of Mary Ellen, Which Started the Child Saving Crusade Throughout the World”. Indeed, that was an accurate designation. Because of Mary Ellen, Henry Bergh founded the York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children which has saved countless lives.

Mary Ellen Wilson died in 1956 at the age of 92 surrounded by a loving family. Her rescue opened the eyes of the American public to the issue of child abuse. Her new life inspired others to make a difference and speak up for justice. Though more than a century has passed, she remains an important part of the fight to end child suffering.