FOREWARDBread & Butter, a true story of the murders committed by Polly Franklin Hoag Frisch, is the result of extensive research. It began
from one paragraph in a book entitled
Gazetteer and Biographical Record and Directory of Genesee County New York 1788-1890, by F.W. Beers; and the prompting of the Genesee County Historian, Sue Conklin. . . .
After reading the story of Polly Frisch, refer back to the following paragraph taken from the Gazetteer mentioned above. It is a fine example of how, after time elapses, the public forgets the facts, details are lost, and the truth becomes folklore.
Cindy Amrhein & Ellen Lea Bachorski
"About the year 1848-1856 Alabama Center was the scene of a crime committed by a woman, Polly Franklin who married Henry Hoag about 1844. Their children Rosa and Viola, died suddenly, and soon the father died, then another child Frances, followed him. After the death of Mr. Hoag, his widow married Otto Frisch, but soon was deserted by him. About this time suspicion was aroused, and S.E. Filkins (counselor) caused an investigation to be made, which revealed the fact that some of her family had died from the effects of poison, large quantities of arsenic having been administered to them. She was arrested and tried three times, and being finally found guilty was sentenced to be hung, but was eventually imprisoned for life."
Prologue
POLLY'S PERSONALITY
In 1844 in the small farming town of Alabama, Genesee County, New York, Henry Hoag married Polly Franklin. Polly was 19 years old, and Henry, 27. Marriage was a natural course of events in the 1800s and divorce was almost unheard of. People married for life unless one spouse died, and children were an expected part of this union.
Albert was born on November 15, 1846. For reasons we will never know, unless it was an expression of Polly's feelings, Albert's middle name would be given as "Burden." There is no record of Polly giving birth to any children in the first two years of her marriage. We know the problem was not one of fertility. As soon as Polly gave birth to one child, she was pregnant with another. Over a period of 10 years Polly was pregnant with eight children. Only two would survive in the end.
With the death of her husband and two of her children, the town became suspicious that something odd was going on in the Hoag household. After four months of investigation, Polly would be indicted on three counts of murder in the first degree. What would come to light over the next two years would . . . haunt them for decades to come. . . .
Modified detail of Alabama Center 1850s street map. Color & Letters added: A = Alabama Hotel.
G= General Store. |
Our final conclusion was that Polly suffered from a combination of a deranged mind and being obsessed with someone she couldn't have. Polly was tired of her life and being tied down to her family. She wanted out of the situation to do as she pleased. Town's people had said she was having an affair with another man, and that he apparently did not care for children. She wanted him, not her husband Henry, and that was that. It has also been seen before, in modem crimes of passion, that a woman has killed her children over an obsession for a man. . . .
