Havelock Ellis: Suicide of young woman in Massachusetts, 1901

Ellis's bppk Sexual Inversion describes how the frustration of an intimate relationship between two women by their families led to a suicide, reported in Massachusetts newspapers early in 1901.

A girl of 21 had been tended during a period of nervous prostration, apparently of hysterical nature, by a friend and neighbor, 14 years her senior, married and having children. An intimate friendship grew up, equally ardent on both sides. The mother of the younger woman and the husband of the other took measures to put a stop to the intimacy, and the girl was sent away to a distant city; stolen interviews, however, still occurred. Finally, when the obstacles became insurmountable, the younger woman bought a revolver and deliberately shot herself in the temple, in presence of her mother, dying immediately. Though sometimes thought to act rather strangely, she was a great favorite with all, handsome, very athletic, fond of all out-door sports, an energetic religious worker, possessing a fine voice, and was an active member of many clubs and societies. The older woman belonged to an aristocratic family and was loved and respected by all.

OutHistory.org would greatly appreciate any further documentation of this incident.

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