Great Olive Poisoning of 1919 – Part 9

The First Information Published in The Alliance Review

William H. Morgan’s account of August 27 is extremely short:

Wednesday August 27

Aunt Kit Sharer died Wednesday morning.

At this point, the story is picked up by The Alliance Review. Three prominent citizens of Alliance (Col. Charles C. Weybrecht, John Sharer, and Katharine Sharer) had died and the story became newsworthy. Also among the dead were the hostess, Helen Gahris, the chef, Frank McAvoy, and the waiter, Robert Jennings.

The headline for the day read: “FOOD POISON DEATH TOLL SIX” and several articles describing the food and the dead were given. The secondary headline read, “Mr. and Mrs. Sharer Die; Chef Passes Away; Chemist Analyzes Vitals of Chef and Negro Waiter.” Here is the front page of The Alliance Review for August 27, 1919.

The Alliance Review, Aug. 27, 1919 – https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p16007coll36/id/9274/rec/1

Tomorrow: Jessie Sanford Struggles

Part 10

Table of Contents

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 7 – The similarities in the symptoms become obvious

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

Part 13 – Aftermath for the Morgan Family

Part 14 – What happened to the other guests at the Gahris dinner party?