On April 19, 1862 a local paper reported “Grave Robbed in Batavia -- Great Excitement.” The story begins on Feb. 20th of that year when 20-year-old Mary Buchanan was buried in the village cemetery, having died from what is believed to been consumption (tuberculosis, or "TB").
Young Mary’s mother is reported to have had dreamt on three occasions that her daughter had been exhumed from her eternal rest. To calm her anxiety, she visited her daughter's grave to discover that her dreams were true; the grave was empty.
“The body had been taken, and from the state of the clothes in the coffin it was evident that they had been torn off of the body by sacrilegious hands.”
Sheriff's deputies arrived and evidence was soon discovered pointing, as many believed, to a medical student named Forrest Page; parts of the remains of Mary Buchanan were discovered at a location where he resided.
Page was arrested by Deputy Hull and held on substantial bail.
It was in all actuality John Harding Page from the Town of Elba who was held to account.
The charge as taken from the court records of June 23, 1862 said: [paraphrased]
“John H. Page of the Town of Elba on the Twenty Fifth day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty two…with force and arms did enter the public burying ground…did enter the grave there of Mary Buchanan and with force and arms unlawfully, willfully and indecently did dig, open and carry the body of Mary Buchanan from the grave for the purpose of dissection.”
He was indicted and admitted to being a medical student studying under a Dr. Root, of Batavia, and later coroner.
His trial was held in Genesee County beginning in the summer of 1862.
Page’s counsel, William Bryan, said that if his client was ever in the possession of any body unlawfully it was for aiding in his medical education.
Soon after the indictment was handed down “the Surgeon General in Washington, being in great need of medical assistances in U.S. hospitals because of the Civil War, interviewed Page for a Medical Cadet [but he was found in eligible]. He did however receive an appointment as an assistant surgeon with the U.S. Volunteers and was assigned to Ft. Scott in Kansas, Department of the Borders; this was in January of 1864.
The bail I believe was $1,000, approximately $25,000 in 2020 money. It appears, and I’ve not been able to completely prove, that he may have "jumped" bail and gone west with the Army. I found no disposition of the case.
Page -- whom some dubbed "Digging Doctor Page" aka "The Body Snatcher" -- died circa 1920.
Ones Forrest Page spent considerable time and effort during his lifetime trying to restore his notorious brother's reputation.
- Here is a link to a letter written by then Genesee County Coroner Dr. John Root to the Batavia Times verifying that John Harding Page was a medical student of his.
- Here is a link to a letter by Dr. John Root vouching for the abilities and qualifications of John Harding Page to serve as a surgeon.
- Here is a link to a letter from Dr. John Root to the Surgeon General asking to appoint John Harding Page to the Medical Corps. This was at or about the time Page's trial was going on. Page was subsequently rejected.
- Here is a link to a friendly, supportive letter to John Harding Page written Aug. 11, 1862 by Dr. John Root, explaining the situation back here in Batavia. At this point Page was, or appears to be, in Kansas.
- Here is a link to a four-page letter written to John Harding Page from his brother, Forrest Page; it shows the brother petitioned the Lieutenant Govenor for John Harding Page to be a Medical Cadet.
(Historical photos courtesy of Rochelle Wyatt, who is married to Dr. Page's grandson.)
