Emily Chan
In 1895, around Christmastime, one of the dogs attacked him. The dogs had gotten into a fight, and when he tried to separate them, he was bitten. Unfortunately, the bite got infected, and he died in January 1896 at the age of 58.
Frankford’s daughter, Maggie, traveled to the prison to make arrangements for her father’s body to be sent to Lancaster for his funeral.
The prison kept stalling, and when she finally got to see the body, the sight was appalling. Frankford’s body was covered with bruises.
The top of his skull appeared to have been cut open and sloppily stitched back together with twine. His stomach was also cut open, and his intestines were spilling out.
After being released from prison, a man named Alexander Leidsley reached out to Maggie to tell her what he had witnessed when he snuck over to visit a friend in the hospital wing on the day Frankford died. The prison’s doctor, John Bacon, removed Frankford’s heart and brain and placed them in a bucketful of snow.
The case was taken to trial. On the stand, Dr. Bacon admitted to taking Frankford’s brain for science but denied ever taking the heart. However, the prison did not have any records of doctors removing organs for study.
This called attention to an unethical medical practice — the stealing of bodies or body parts for science.
In 1882, Pennsylvania was in need of bodies for medical students to dissect, but there simply weren’t enough bodies.
So, an underground trade for bodies developed. Corpses came from dug-up graves or those who died in asylums and prisons.
When the practice finally came to light, the public caused quite a riot, leading to state laws regulating bodies for dissection.
Overall, Frankford’s case opened people’s eyes to how prisoners and others of lower societal status were being treated.
