Confronting the ghost of Elizabeth Gillam: A new look at Ex parte Crouse (1839)

Abstract

This article revisits the 1839 Pennsylvania Supreme Court case Ex parte Crouse in light of new historical information. While most legal scholars and historians have analyzed Ex parte Crouse with the assumption that Mary Ann Crouse was sent to the Philadelphia House of Refuge without committing any crime, a search at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania revealed the existence of Crouse's admission record detailing how she had killed a two-year-old child. This finding undermines the extensive conclusions that scholars have drawn about the case's significance and highlights the importance of archival work in legal studies.