From mid-April, 1885 through the end of a trial in December, 1885, Elmira 
was the center of a sensational grave-robbery scandal. It received 
extensive newspaper coverage. I'm wondering if a mention of it ever worked 
its way into Twain's writings or letters.
  
 In April, Mrs. Eusebia Fitzgerald of San Francisco arrived in town with 
her hired private detective, and convinced the Elmira coroner and Woodlawn 
cemetery commissioner that General William Irvine had been buried in a 
family plot after having been murdered by his wife. Irvine had been living 
in San Francisco separated from his wife for 17 years, but she came two 
visit, and soon afterwards Irvine died. Mrs. Fitzgerald was his longtime 
mistress, and because no will was found and Irvine had made her many 
promises, she suspected his wife had killed him to gain all his property.
  
 Mrs. Fitzgerald came armed with an affidavit from a San Francisco doctor 
indicating that Irvine's body showed signs of head trauma and poisoning.
  
 The coroner (without a court order) exhumed Irvine's body and retrieved 
the stomach, lungs, and liver. The casket pillow was searched for the 
missing will. Irvine's family discovered the desecration and had Mrs. 
Fitzgerald arrested. No poison was ever found in the organs, and Mrs. 
Fitzgerald was exposed as having a history as one of the most notorious 
blackmailers of her age. She was found guilty in December and was sent to 
prison for two years.
  

Jerry Kuntz
Warwick New York
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