HUMAN DISSECTION IN THE NORTH CENTRAL STATES 237 



ized to remove the pair of bodies to the coroner's office, where an 

 inquest would be held. When the owner returned and learned 

 of the news, the coroner was contacted. He was informed by this 

 individual that the subjects had not been delivered to his office 

 nor had he sent for them. Because the subjects in question could 

 not be produced as evidence, the charge against the resurrec- 

 tionists was dropped and their bail money returned. 



Gunny's activities in this field ranged beyond the confines 

 of Cincinnati as he resorted to shipping bodies across the state 

 lines. The Cincinnati Daily Gazette on January 20, 1870, con- 

 tained an item reporting that he had deposited at the United 

 States express office, a box labeled "glass with care, C.O.D.," 

 which was addressed to Dr. M. P. Hayden, Leavenworth, Kan- 

 sas." On seeing who the shipper was, the agents became suspicious, 

 opened the container, discovered the body of a Negress, which 

 they thought was definitely "prepared for the dissecting knife" 

 since it was enclosed in a giveaway sack. They refused to ship the 

 parcel and it was returned to Cunningham (Edwards, '54). 



Medical students of those days apparently played jokes on 

 Cunny when they could get away with it, which was not often. 

 To get revenge on one group, he resurrected the body of a small- 

 pox victim, delivered it to their school and was satisfied to learn 

 that several of them contracted the disease. 



Near the end of Cunny's resurrecting activities, when he 

 was sixty-three years of age, he was arrested for being drunk and 

 firing a huge revolver on Central Avenue in Cincinnati (January 

 13, 1870). At that time, and the following year, he was doing a 

 lucrative business. This was possible both because of the local 

 demand and the ease of obtaining subjects. It was a simple mat- 

 ter to get in cemetery grounds. A newspaper of the day com- 

 mented how men of extremely low social standing were buying 

 fine homes and driving in expensive carriages. Edwards ('54) 

 states that presumably the article was referring particularly to 



I "Old Cunny." 

 The career of this character came to an end late in 1871 and 

 the Cincinnati Daily Enquirer^ of August 31st, featured it under 

 the title, "The Champion Resurrectionist Caught" (Edwards, 

 '54). At 1:00 A.M., in the morning, two officers, on patrol in Cin- 



