Harford [Maryland] Suicides

Cases of Self-killings and Attempted Suicides Committed by Men and Women Who Suffered from an "Aberration of the Mind" in Harford County, Maryland, 1817-1947

Harford Suicides is modeled after Harford Homicides, a book I researched and published in 2009. It contains 316 cases of self-killings and attempted suicides in Harford County, Maryland from 1817 through 1947.

The early cases contained brief descriptions by coroners and justices of the peace, and doctors in many later cases. They used phrases like a "temporary aberration of the mind", a "fit of melancholy", "laboring under an attack of insanity", and "yielding to the promptings of a fit of despondency".

The reasons for suicide were mainly due to health problems, financial woes, problems at work, lost love and broken hearts, and some just wanted to end their lives for a reason they took with them to the grave, while a few left behind a suicide note.

Henry C. Peden, Jr.

2023, paper, 220 pp.

ISBN: 9780788403149

101-P0314