In late 1883 couple, Micheal and Maggie Cuddigan took in Mary Matthews. They adopted her from Denvers Catholic Orphan's Home. Mary's mother had died and her father put her in the home so she could be taken care of. The couple would take Mary from Denver, Colorado to their home in Ouray, Colorado. It was known by neighbors they did not treat the girl well.
On January 12, 1884, 10-year-old Mary was found crouched beside a haystack near the Cuddigan's home. She was underdressed for the cold and snowy weather. The Cuddigan's were notified and they brought the girl home. She would die a few hours later and with some secrecy the buried in a distant part of the ranch. They told people that she had accidentally fallen down the cellar steps and had died.
Neighbors of the family were suspicious of them. They knew that the family treated the girl cruelly and combined with her sudden death and hurried burial suspicions grew. Neighbors would notify the coroner that they suspected that the foster parent's murdered Mary and her body was dug back up.
The autopsy showed that Mary's body was covered in wounds. It was obvious the little girl was abused and overworked. She had cut marks all over her body from a knife, her leg was broken, her skull was fractured, her limbs seemed to have been frozen, she also had evidence of sexual abuse. It was believed the couple forced the girl to stay out in the snow as punishment.
When the Cuddigan's and Maggie's brother John Caroll was arrested. At the time of their arrest, the couple was preparing to leave the country. They were arrested along with the wife's brother John Caroll. The three of them would be kept temporarily at the Delmonico Hotel between 4th and 5th Ave.
On Jan. 18th a lynch mob come for the trio. Michael outside city limits. Even though Maggie was pregnant she and her husband were lynched. He was hung from a tree and she from a ridgepole. They were going to hang John also but he told them he wasn't even there when the girl died and they released him.
People from the town were not angry about the lynching and thought the couple was deserving of it. Though Michael's brothers were said to be at the hotel and refused to stop the lynching and watched as the crowd of people took the couple away.
Their bodies were displayed in public view of the town. The bed that Mary used was also on public display which was four gunnysacks stitched together. The Cuddigan's were refused to be allowed to buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery and the local Catholic priest also refused to officiate the funerals even though he was against the lynching. No one wanted anything to do with the funeral and the coroner buried the couple on their ranch with the $240 Michael had in his pocket when he died. not one attended. Their money was left to their infant son who was taken care of by relatives.
Not only did the Cuddigan's bodies get displayed, but Mary's was also displayed in Denver. She was presented before the public to show how the young girl suffered before her death. thousands of people viewed her before her burial at the Denver cemetery.
The death date for Mary is wrong on Find a Grave. There were articles from Friday, Jan. 18th, 1884 stating the girl was dug back up and an autopsy was done on her body. It stated that she had died the Saturday before which would make it the 12th.
Maggie was the first known woman to be lynched in Colorado.
SOURCES
Bismarck Tribune Jan. 18, 1884
The Tennessean Jan. 22, 1884
The Linwood Leader Jan 24, 1884
Valley Falls Register Feb 1, 1884
Delta Chief Feb 6, 1884
The Alton Empire Feb. 7, 1884
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