Great Olive Poisoning of 1919 - Part 1

Introduction

August 23, 2019 marked the 100th anniversary of the Great Olive Poisoning, which killed five prominent citizens of Alliance, the Lakeside Club (Canton, Ohio) chef, and waiter and sickened four others attending a celebratory dinner party.

William H. Morgan, the son of Col. Henry Morgan, recounted his story in a letter written to Rodman Public Library Director, Harriet Clem in 1982 as part of the library’s Oral History Project. Over the next few days, we will relay Mr. Morgan’s recollections of that fateful dinner party, one which was to celebrate Col. Charles C. Weybrecht’s return from France at the end of World War I.

The story begins with two brief social column items from The Alliance Review:

Alliance Review 1919-07-17

Social Notes, The Alliance Review and Leader, 07-17-1919

Social News, The Alliance Review and Leader, 07-23-1919

Col. Charles C. Weybrecht returned to the United States via the steamer Rotterdam on July 22, 1919 where his wife, Emily and Mrs. L. L. Lamborn had come to meet him. From his landing in New York, he proceeded to Camp Dix to get his discharge.

Next, we will tell the story of who Col. Charles C. Weybrecht was.

Part 1 – Introduction

Part 2 – Who was Col. Weybrecht?

Part 3 – The party hostess: Helen Sebring Gahris

Part 4 – The dinner guests

Part 5 – The dinner party – August 23, 1919

Part 6 – The first effects of the tainted olives

Part 8 – Other members of the dinner party are contacted

Part 9 – The first information published in The Alliance Review

Part 10 – Jessie Sanford struggles

Part 11 – Funerals are held for the dead

Part 12 – The final victim