Lydia Sherman: The Derby Poisoner
Early Life and Family
Lydia Sherman, born Lydia Danbury on December 24, 1824, in Burlington, New Jersey, became one of the most notorious poisoners in nineteenth-century America. Newspapers later called her the “Derby Poisoner,” the “Poison Fiend,” the “Queen Poisoner,” and the “Modern Lucretia Borgia.” She was accused of methodically poisoning three husbands and numerous children, including several of her own, during a series of deaths that stretched from 1864 through 1871.
Lydia lost her mother during infancy and was raised largely by an uncle in New Brunswick, New Jersey. At approximately sixteen years old, she worked as a tailor and became involved with a Methodist congregation. Through the church, she met Edward Struck, an older widower who had children from an earlier marriage. Lydia married Struck while she was still a teenager, and the couple eventually lived in the Harlem area of New York City.
Edward worked as a carriage blacksmith and later as a New York police officer. Lydia and Edward had a large family, but their household became increasingly unstable after Edward lost his position. He reportedly became depressed and had difficulty supporting the family. Rather than continue caring for him, Lydia secretly administered arsenic, beginning a pattern in which members of her household developed severe stomach pain, fever, vomiting, cramps and other symptoms that could be mistaken for disease.
The Poisoning of Edward Struck
Edward Struck became suddenly and violently ill in May 1864. Lydia claimed that he had accidentally taken medicine from the wrong container, but people who observed his final illness suspected that poison may have been involved. Edward died in Harlem on May 24, 1864. No criminal investigation immediately followed his death, and Lydia was free to remain in control of the household.
Within weeks, several of Lydia’s youngest children also became sick. Their illnesses were generally attributed to fevers or other natural causes. Arsenic poisoning was difficult to identify without a deliberate chemical examination, and symptoms could resemble typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery or severe gastrointestinal illness. This allowed Lydia to present each death as another tragic episode in a family already overwhelmed by sickness.
The Deaths of the Struck Children
Accounts differ regarding the exact number of Lydia’s children who were poisoned, and surviving records do not provide reliable day-and-month death dates for every child. Contemporary allegations and later histories generally identify at least five Struck children as victims. Some broader accounts attribute six of her own children’s deaths to her. Exact dates are therefore included only where they can be supported with reasonable confidence.
- Edward Struck — Lydia’s first husband died on May 24, 1864, in Harlem, New York. He suffered a sudden illness that Lydia attributed to an accidental dose of medicine, but his death was later regarded as an arsenic poisoning.
- Martha Ann Struck — Lydia’s approximately six-year-old daughter died in Harlem in 1864, during the weeks following her father’s death. Her recorded cause of death was described as a fever, although later accounts identify arsenic as the probable cause.
- Edward Struck Jr. — Approximately four years old, Edward Jr. died in Harlem in 1864. He was among the young children who became violently ill shortly after their father’s death.
- William Struck — Lydia’s youngest son died in Harlem in 1864 while still a very young child. His death occurred during the same concentrated period of illness within the Struck household.
- George Whitfield Struck — Approximately fourteen years old, George died in New York in 1864. He had reportedly worked as a painter’s apprentice and contributed money to the household before becoming ill.
- Ann Eliza Struck — Ann Eliza survived the first cluster of deaths but died in New York in 1865. Later narratives of the case describe her as another victim of arsenic poisoning.
The rapid destruction of the Struck family attracted surprisingly little official attention. Physicians issued diagnoses consistent with common infectious diseases, and no autopsies capable of detecting arsenic were ordered. Lydia was viewed publicly as a widow who had suffered an extraordinary series of personal tragedies rather than as the person responsible for creating them.
Marriage to Dennis Hurlburt
After the deaths in New York, Lydia worked in positions that included nursing and sewing. She eventually moved to Connecticut, where she met Dennis Hurlburt, whose surname was also recorded as Hurlbut. Hurlburt was an older man with property and financial resources. Although he was considerably older than Lydia, the two married in 1868.
Hurlburt changed his will after the marriage and made Lydia his principal beneficiary. Not long afterward, he began suffering from intense headaches, stomach pain, burning sensations and fever. Physicians were summoned, but they were unable to agree on the cause of his worsening condition. Hurlburt died in 1868 before his illness could be properly investigated.
- Dennis Hurlburt — Lydia’s second husband died in 1868 in Connecticut, commonly associated with the Stratford or nearby Fairfield County area. His exact death date is not consistently preserved in accessible historical accounts. His body was later exhumed, and investigators reported evidence of arsenic poisoning.
Lydia inherited from Hurlburt and once again escaped immediate suspicion. Her outward appearance as an attentive wife helped conceal the fact that she had benefited financially from his death. The absence of an early postmortem examination allowed her to move forward and seek another household in which she could establish herself.
The Sherman Household in Derby
Lydia next entered the Derby, Connecticut, home of Horatio Nelson Sherman, a widower and skilled mechanic. Horatio had children from his previous marriage. Historical accounts identify the younger children in Lydia’s care as Frankie, an infant son, and Ada or Addie, a teenage daughter. Other Sherman children were older and were not continuously dependent upon Lydia.
Lydia was initially employed as a housekeeper, but she soon developed a relationship with Horatio. They married in September 1870. Within months, young Frankie became ill and died. Ada later developed similar symptoms and also died. The deaths devastated Horatio, who reportedly became depressed and began drinking heavily.
- Frankie Sherman — Horatio Sherman’s infant son died in Derby, Connecticut, in 1870. He was approximately ten to fifteen months old. Surviving accounts do not consistently establish the precise day and month of his death.
- Ada “Addie” Sherman — Horatio’s teenage daughter, generally described as approximately fourteen years old, died in Derby in 1871. She suffered an illness similar to Frankie’s, and arsenic was later discovered after her body was exhumed.
After the children’s deaths, Horatio’s relationship with Lydia deteriorated. He spent time away from home and drank with friends in New Haven. When he returned to Derby, Lydia continued preparing food and beverages for him. Around the beginning of June 1871, he drank a beverage supplied by Lydia and soon complained of a severe headache. His condition rapidly progressed to fever, cramping and extreme pain.
- Horatio Nelson Sherman — Lydia’s third husband died in Derby, Connecticut, in early June 1871, commonly reported as June 3, 1871. A postmortem examination found an enormous concentration of arsenic in his organs, reportedly enough to kill several people.
Discovery of the Arsenic
Horatio Sherman’s sudden death finally produced the scientific investigation that had been absent from Lydia’s earlier cases. A physician ordered an autopsy, and portions of Horatio’s stomach and liver were sent for chemical analysis. The examination revealed a lethal quantity of arsenic. Investigators then began examining the recent deaths of Frankie and Ada.
The children’s bodies were exhumed, and arsenic was reportedly found in their remains. Dennis Hurlburt’s body was also exhumed, connecting Lydia’s second marriage to the same pattern of poisoning. Authorities learned that her first husband and numerous children had died under similarly suspicious circumstances in New York.
Detectives kept Lydia under surveillance while evidence was collected. She traveled to New Brunswick, New Jersey, where she had family connections. Police arrested her there in June 1871 and returned her to Connecticut. Her arrest became a national sensation, and newspaper writers portrayed her as a woman who had repeatedly transformed the family home into a place of concealed execution.
Method and Possible Motives
Lydia relied primarily on arsenic, a poison widely available during the nineteenth century. It was found in pest-control products, medicines and household compounds. In sufficiently small doses, arsenic could create a prolonged illness; in larger quantities, it produced violent abdominal distress, vomiting, dehydration, convulsions and death.
Her apparent motives varied. The death of Edward Struck removed a depressed and unemployed husband whom she regarded as a burden. The deaths of young children relieved her of the responsibility and expense of caring for them. Dennis Hurlburt’s death gave her access to property under his revised will. In the Sherman household, she may have viewed Horatio’s children as obstacles to her control of their father and his estate.
Lydia later offered inconsistent explanations. At times, she admitted responsibility for several poisonings while minimizing others. She claimed that Horatio may have consumed arsenic accidentally, even though the amount discovered in his body made an innocent household mistake difficult to accept. Her shifting statements, combined with the repeated pattern of deaths, strengthened the prosecution’s case.
Trial and Conviction
Lydia was prosecuted in New Haven, Connecticut. The trial focused primarily on the murder of Horatio Sherman because the chemical evidence from his autopsy was especially strong. Medical witnesses described the presence of arsenic and explained how his symptoms were consistent with poisoning rather than natural disease.
The prosecution also introduced the deaths surrounding Lydia’s previous marriages to demonstrate a continuing pattern. Although she was publicly accused of killing as many as three husbands and eight children, she was not separately convicted for every suspected death. Historical sources also disagree on whether the total number of victims was ten or eleven.
In 1872, a jury found Lydia Sherman guilty of second-degree murder. On January 11, 1873, she was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Connecticut State Prison in Wethersfield. A published confession attributed to her acknowledged the poisonings of three husbands and four children, although investigators and later historians believed that her actual victim count was considerably higher.
Escape, Recapture and Death
In June 1877, after several years in prison, Lydia escaped while receiving medical treatment under inadequate supervision. She made her way to Providence, Rhode Island, and reportedly obtained employment as a housekeeper for another widower. Her attempt to establish a new identity was short-lived. Suspicion arose after she gave conflicting names, and authorities captured her and returned her to prison.
Lydia Sherman died at the state prison in Wethersfield, Connecticut, on May 16, 1878, following a prolonged illness commonly described as cancer. She was fifty-three years old. Her death ended the life of a woman whose respectable appearance had allowed her to move through three marriages while leaving a succession of poisoned relatives behind her.
Confirmed and Suspected Victims
- Edward Struck — First husband; died May 24, 1864, in Harlem, New York.
- Martha Ann Struck — Daughter; died in 1864 in Harlem, New York.
- Edward Struck Jr. — Son; died in 1864 in Harlem, New York.
- William Struck — Son; died in 1864 in Harlem, New York.
- George Whitfield Struck — Son; died in 1864 in New York.
- Ann Eliza Struck — Daughter; died in 1865 in New York.
- Dennis Hurlburt — Second husband; died in 1868 in Connecticut.
- Frankie Sherman — Stepson; died in 1870 in Derby, Connecticut.
- Ada “Addie” Sherman — Stepdaughter; died in 1871 in Derby, Connecticut.
- Horatio Nelson Sherman — Third husband; died in early June 1871, commonly reported as June 3, in Derby, Connecticut.
Legacy of the Derby Poisoner
Lydia Sherman’s case illustrated how easily arsenic poisoning could be concealed in an era when autopsies and toxicological examinations were not routinely performed. Her victims died inside their homes, frequently after receiving food, medicine or drinks from a person expected to care for them. Because their symptoms resembled familiar diseases, each death initially appeared tragic but ordinary.
The precise number of people Lydia murdered remains disputed. Sensational nineteenth-century publications accused her of poisoning three husbands and eight children, while modern historical accounts often identify ten victims by name and acknowledge that another child may also have died by her hand. What is clear is that she repeatedly used poison against husbands and children over a period of approximately seven years.
Her eventual capture resulted from the decision to scientifically examine Horatio Sherman’s remains. Once arsenic was discovered, the seemingly unrelated deaths in New York and Connecticut formed a recognizable pattern. Lydia Sherman remains remembered as one of America’s earliest documented female serial killers and as a particularly disturbing example of murder concealed beneath the outward roles of wife, mother, nurse and household caregiver.
