July 13, 1882: Jacob Mehlman of New Berlinville Acquitted of Rape Charge

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

July 13, 1882: Jacob Mehlman of New Berlinville has been found not guilty of the rape charges filed against him by Mrs. Matilda Blume of Little Oley, and she will have to pay the court costs for bringing the charges against him.

Mehlman is a “rag man” who makes a living going door-to-door buying rags, scraps of metal, paper, cooking fat and various recyclable items for resale. He testified that he had called at Mrs. Blume’s house but had never acted improperly.

The first time he was there, she took him to the chicken house, where the junk was kept, but he did not enter the coop; she handed things out to him. He was never in her home, although she had invited him to go upstairs with her “to see how nicely she had her room furnished.”

Several witnesses testified to Mehlman’s good character, and “her character was pretty well aired by the defense lawyers.”

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