Grave Robbing, Riots, and Murder: The story of a St. Charles "First"

Firsts are a big deal, especially for those of us working in the history field. We like to know when was the first this, where was the first that, who was the first person to …

I recently took nineteen members of the St. Charles Junior Historical Society and some of their parents to The Field Museum in Chicago. The Field is the first museum I remember visiting as a kid and today it is one of my favorite places. I enjoy taking friends and family there and showing off all of the things I love about The Field. Therefore I was really excited to discover that for some of the kids today was their first time visiting The Field.

I was thrilled to be able to show them all of the incredible treasures on display and of course I could not help but point out some of my personal favorites along the way. Anyone who has ever visited The Field with me knows I love the shoe exhibit, but my favorite exhibit is Ancient Egypt and the mummies! As my small group made our way through the maze in the pyramid I began pointing out some of the more interesting items including one of the mummies that was one of the first items brought to The Field by their first President in the late 1800’s.

As I thought about some of The Field’s firsts, I couldn’t help but think about some of the firsts for St. Charles.

Last week, I wrote about the first settlers to St. Charles and the first name of the town. So I thought this week I would write about another first—the first medical school. Oh, yes, at one time St. Charles was home to a medical school, and not just any medical school but the first medical school in the state of Illinois.

In 1842 Dr. George W. Richards, along with other medical professionals from the area, was instrumental in organizing and incorporating the Franklin Medical College in St. Charles. The Franklin Medical College was the first Medical School in the state. It was located on the second floor of the building on the northeast corner of Main Street and 1st Avenue (currently home to the Pi Pizza Perfection restaurant).

The Franklin Medical College was open for only 7 years; it was forced to close as a result of the events that took place on April 19, 1849. Richard’s Riot, as it would later be known, occurred because of the exhumation and carrying away of the remains of Mrs. George M. Kenyon of Sycamore, by a student of the school. John Rood was studying with Dr. A. B. De Wolf of St. Charles and according to classmate Dr. O. Everts, was “poor and ambitious, and being unable to pay for material necessary in the prosecution of his studies, he resolved to procure it himself.”

According to Dr. Everts, a friend or relative of Rood, living in DeKalb County, furnished him information regarding the death and burial of Mrs. Kenyon. Rood then, accompanied by another student, proceeded to Sycamore in a one-horse wagon, with the intent of digging up the grave and removing the body. Rood and the other student brought the body of Mrs. Kenyon back to St. Charles where it was hidden until they had time to practice performing an autopsy.

It was not long before word of the exhumation spread amongst the family and friends of the deceased young woman and soon a delegation from Sycamore traveled to St. Charles to confront Dr. Richards and demanded the return of the body. Unfortunately Dr. Richards denied all knowledge of the exhumation and location of the body, and the group returned to Sycamore. A few day's later, on the 19th of April, 1849, a larger group of men, estimated at anywhere from 40 to 200, many armed with rifles, shot guns, pistols, etc., drove from Sycamore to St. Charles. Again they went to Dr. Richards’ house and tried to obtain the body and satisfaction from Dr. Richards and his students, but were unsuccessful. A number of the men decided to storm the Doctor's premises and search it from bottom to top despite the fact that several of his students were in the house with the Doctor as well as his family.

As the Sycamore men approached the house, Dr. Richards, who was standing in the door with one hand in the opening of his vest, stepped back and closed it in their faces. An attempt was made to push it open, and partially succeeded, when the barrel of a gun appeared through the opening before being shut out again. It was then that Mr. Kenyon put his rifle against the closed door fired through the panel, the shot, it is believed, is the one that injured John Rood and caused his death within a few weeks. Some accounts claim that the first shot came from within the door, but it has never been definitely proved who fired first. Following the first shot a half dozen or more were fired into the house, one of which "passed through the right shoulder joint of Dr. Richards, below the collar bone, wounding the apex of the right lung, and so injuring the nerves that supplied the right arm as to produce immediate and permanent paralysis of that arm. He also received a blow from a stone on the left side of his face which knocked him down.''

According to witnesses, when the Doctor was struck he walked back through the hall and dining-room to a bedroom on the right, where he took off his coat and vest and then returned to the front door, where he showed himself to the mob covered with blood. The sight did not appease their vengeance for they fired and threw missiles at him, one, as stated, knocking him down.

At this stage, several of the citizens, believing the Doctor was killed, stepped between the mob and the building and called a halt to the fighting. They informed the Sycamore men that Dr. Richards was probably killed and a student had been mortally wounded, and requested them to desist. The crowd withdrew and the matter was afterward settled by the return of the body of Mrs. Kenyon, which had not been mutilated, to the friends of the deceased. One account of the story is that Mrs. Caroline Howard, a noted psychic and spiritualist in town, helped the family locate the body, others say they were eventually told where it had been hidden.

Dr. Richards was taken to the house of O. M. Butler, where he remained for a few days, before being taken to Chicago in a spring-wagon, where he was cared for until able to travel. He then removed his family to Dubuque, Iowa, where he died April 22, 1853, almost exactly four years from the date of receiving his wound. In speaking of his death, Dr. Everts says: " It is probable that the injury sustained at the time of the riot in St. Charles predisposed him to the disease (inflammation of the lungs) of which he died, but was not the cause of his death."

After the initial excitement had settled down, the Franklin Medical School was forced to close so as to prevent another similar event occurring in St. Charles. Most of this account was taken from a letter written by Dr. Everts (April 22,1886) to S. W. Durant for inclusion in Durant’s narrative on the history of St. Charles.

An interesting note is that until sometime in the 1980’s bullet holes were still visible in the door on the home that was Dr. Richards’ residence. The door has since been removed and its location is unknown.

As I tell school groups visiting the museum, the story of the first medical school in St. Charles does not have a very happy ending. At least lessons were learned and a few years later St. Charles had the opportunity to open another first school in the state, but that is a story for another day.