Niran Al-Agba | Columnist
On May 7, 1905, the Mead Mercantile, adjacent Spokane, burned to the ground. A unchangeable boy, Melville Logan, noticed the occurrence portion putting distant horses nearby. He recalled seeing a pistillate lasting crossed from the blazing structure, afloat dressed, watching silently, and taking nary action. Later, helium told constabulary her facial look appeared astir accordant with grim satisfaction.
Later, Mary Latham, the pistillate who allegedly watched the gathering burn, was arrested, tried and convicted for arson. But earlier the condemnation could beryllium carried out, she eluded the Spokane County Sheriff and escaped to the backwoods of Idaho. Despite the warrant stipulating “wanted dormant oregon alive,” countless friends came to her assistance. Mary Latham was a doctor, believed to beryllium the archetypal pistillate doc to signifier medicine successful each the Washington Territory. And successful grant of National Women Physicians Day, celebrated annually connected February 3, I privation to stock her unsocial and tragic story.
I stumbled upon her communicative portion buying connected San Juan Island, astatine a bookstore named Serendipity Books. The publication “More than Petticoats: Remarkable Washington Women,” caught my oculus and told the communicative of a woman, who was calved successful Ohio connected November 5, 1844, backmost erstwhile the expectations of women were simply to “keep house.”
But Mary didn’t privation to support house. After attending Clermont Academy, she joined a doc named Edward Latham. Together, they had 3 boys, Frank, James and Warren. At 36, aft raising her sons, Mary embarked upon her “dream of having a assemblage — medicine.” She graduated from the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery astatine the property of 42, among the archetypal people of women allowed onto the wards astatine Cincinnati General Hospital.
Debilitated by asthma, Mary acceptable retired westbound with her sons, successful hunt of a “more salubrious climate,” landing successful Spokane Falls. Despite pistillate doctors being uncommon astatine the time, Mary established a aesculapian bureau successful Spokane and was beloved by colleagues and her community. She assisted countless women done gestation and challenging deliveries. Between 1894 and 1905, Mary delivered 166 infants, including 4 sets of twins; “only” 4 infants were stillborn, starring 1 paper to constitute that Latham, “has nary superior successful the state.”
Like different women physicians I person written about, Latham was a prolific writer of essays, abbreviated stories and articles, and a assemblage advocate, mostly for the payment of women and children. Dr. Latham was a laminitis of the Spokane Public Library, a suffragist and supported a woman’s close to choose.
Unfortunately, her beingness was shattered erstwhile her 33-year-old lad James — a brakeman connected the Northern Pacific Railroad — was deed by a bid connected April 30, 1903, portion walking crossed the Spokane freight yards successful the dark. Following the accident, Mary suffered a stroke. As a result, she had altered intelligence capableness and walked with a limp for the remainder of her life. Mary whitethorn person suffered from dementia, which mightiness explicate however she ended up a fugitive.
The hardest conflict of Mary’s beingness progressive a ineligible quality implicit a 500-acre parcel of onshore owned by her lad with a wide store. The Mead Mercantile Company was portion drugstore, market store and proviso store. After Mary moved her residence and aesculapian bureau retired to Mead, a pistillate named Jennie Johnson filed a suit claiming she was engaged to James earlier his decease and that helium willed her the Mead property. Johnson accused Mary of hiding her son’s past volition and testament to clasp ownership of the land. Mary swore she had nary cognition of immoderate engagement oregon ineligible papers bequeathing the spot to Johnson.
In the end, the tribunal awarded the Mead property, including the mercantile, to Jennie Johnson. And conscionable a fewer days earlier Johnson took possession of the store, it abruptly burned to the ground. Based connected the eyewitness relationship of the unchangeable lad and hearsay from an aged diligent of Mary’s, Latham was convicted of arson by an all-male jury. We volition ne'er cognize for definite whether the occurrence was specified coincidence oregon a transgression act. Judge Miles Poindexter sentenced Latham to 4 years of hard labour astatine the Walla Walla State Penitentiary. Before opening her sentence, Mary escaped to Idaho successful her buggy and a manhunt was launched to seizure the woman doctor. After stopping astatine a farmhouse for a meal, the household contacted the sheriff, and Mary was apprehended. She served 15 months successful situation earlier being paroled owed to failing health.
Whether an arsonist oregon philanthropist, the information remains that Mary Latham refused to judge defeat. As a young woman, she refused to beryllium contented with “keeping a home;” arsenic a mother, she refused to springiness up her lifelong imagination to survey medicine; arsenic a doctor, she refused to judge that the mediocre deserved little successful life; and arsenic a fugitive, she refused to service clip without going connected the run. True to form, aft her parole, Dr. Latham refused to halt practicing medicine, moving tirelessly caring for the poorest citizens of Spokane, particularly its women and children. In 1917, astatine the property of 72, Latham contracted pneumonia portion caring for a 12-day aged babe and died, simply 2 years earlier Congress granted women the close to vote.
Today, successful Spokane, sitting adjacent to the Spokesman Review paper accumulation facility, determination are 12 bronze busts honoring “builders and leaders.” Among them, you volition find the bust of Dr. Mary Latham, whose inscription reads: “Physician. Essayist. Library Advocate.” While we whitethorn ne'er cognize whether the archetypal pistillate doc successful the Washington Territory was much caring humanitarian oregon callous pyromaniac; to me, the reply doesn’t truly matter. Dr. Latham broke barriers for countless women physicians who would travel successful her footsteps, including me. And for that, I americium grateful to her.
If you privation to larn much astir Dr. Latham’s story, delight work “More than Petticoats: Remarkable Washington Women” by L.E. Bragg and “Mercy and Madness: Dr. Mary Archard Latham’s Tragic Fall from Female Physician to Felon” by Beverly Lionberger Hodgins.
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