she will be remembered as a noted abortionist

Madame Restell, Ann Trow Lohman and the Comstock Law

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This magazine illustration depicts a well-to-do woman seeking refuge at a clinic like Madame Restell’s (image via the Wellcome Collection)

Some time after 1831 — after she’d already survived the death of her first husband and the estrangement of her family back in England — Ann Trow apprenticed with a New York pharmacist.

He taught her the basics of pill compounding and showed her how to create treat ailments ranging from constipation to depression. Soon, Ann started experimenting with pharmaceutical combinations of her own. By 1836, she’d created a thriving business founded on $1 and $5 pill packets sold to a loyal customer base: women seeking illegal abortions.