Dear Dr. Savard,
My name is Ambrose Leach. I am a tailor with my own small shop on Broadway. I am a respectable, God-fearing Christian, born and raised in this city. I have as wife a good woman who works hard to make a comfortable home. We have six children, the eldest twelve years and the youngest six months. The doctor tells us that another child would ruin my wife’s health and might well kill her, leaving me with six young children to raise on my own and a business to run and operate at the same time. And so I write to you. I need information on how to limit the size of my family, and without delay. Please, Dr. Savard, may I call on you for this purpose? I enclose a five-dollar note as a sign of my sincerity and hope to hear from you soonest.
Ambrose Leach
Post Office Box 1567
New York, NY
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CONRAD BELMONT, ESQ.
BELMONT AND VERHOEVEN
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
May 13, 1883
Mr. Anthony Comstock
Secretary
New York Society for the Suppression of Vice
150 Nassau Street
New York N.Y.
Dear Mr. Comstock,
I am writing on behalf of Drs. Liliane and Sophie Savard in re the matter of the enclosed reproduction of a letter, addressed to the Drs. Savard at their place of employ, New Amsterdam Charity Hospital, and signed Mr. Ambrose Leach. This letter, seeking reliable information on contraception, as well as the purchase of whatever implements necessary, was mailed to “Dr. Savard” and arrived May 11, with five (5) U.S. dollars enclosed. The five-dollar bill is described as a consultation fee.
According to the city directory there is no tailor named Leach on Broadway or anywhere else in the city, and the tax assessor’s office has no record of such a person or business. I am forced to conclude that the letter constitutes an attempt on your part to entrap my clients for violation of the Comstock Act, as you have publicly admitted to doing with other physicians in the recent past.
A federal district judge has already thrown out one such case on the grounds that the authorities entrapped the accused (U.S. v. Whittier, 28 Fed. Cas. 591 (1878)), but if you are eager to see such practices condemned more emphatically, by a court closer to home, then by all means, proceed on your present course.
The Drs. Savard are members in good standing of the New York Society of Physicians and Surgeons, the American Medical Association, the New York Obstetrical Society, and the Association for the Advancement of the Medical Education of Women. Detailed information about this incident will be shared with these and similar organizations, and with the attorneys representing their interests.
In the unlikely event I am mistaken as to the provenance of this letter, please accept my humblest apologies.
Sincerely yours,
Conrad Belmont, Esq.
copies to: Peter Verhoeven, Esq., John Mayo, District Attorney.
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MOUNT LORETTO
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.
May 15 1883
Dear Dr. Savard,
In receipt of your letter regarding an orphaned male infant about three months old, blue eyes, dark hair. Madam, we have no shortage of such orphans and every one of them is in dire need of a good Catholic family to adopt them. If you would like to pursue this matter you may find me at Mount Loretto on Staten Island.
Yours in Christ and in his Holy Mother
Father John McKinnawae
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THE FOUNDLING ASYLUM
SISTERS OF CHARITY
175 E. 68TH STREET
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
May 15 1883
Dear Dr. Savard,
I am in receipt of your letter requesting Sister Mary Augustin’s assistance when you call on Father McKinnawae at the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin in the coming week.
Sister Mary Augustin has been reassigned to the Mother House where she can better contemplate devotion to duty and detachment from self. While she will not be joining you, please be assured that we Sisters of Charity pray for you and ask God to guide your heart and hand as you continue your search for the missing Russo children.
Diriget Deus
Sr. Mary Irene
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CITY OF CHICAGO
POLICE DEPARTMENT
SEVENTH DISTRICT
943 W. MAXWELL ST.
CHICAGO, ILL.
Wed., May 16 1883
Dearest Anna,
Tomorrow at noon we will be boarding the train and on our way home, the Deparacio brothers in tow. Look for me on Saturday evening. I will be polite for a half hour, and after that I will not want to share you with anyone, so be prepared to go out.
Some thoughts about the news in your last letter: I think that Baldy Ned is probably right. A reward might well be helpful but the amount is important. Too much will send the wrong message and could cause complications. Do you really need me to tell you your instincts are sound, or is there something else that has got you worried?