This is totally off the subject and a little long, but seeing the word chloroform spurred some thoughts.

I have a handwritten journal, written by my 3rd great uncle in the 1880's that has the recipe for making chloroform. What's ironic about that is that this uncle was sent to prison after attempting to kill his new BIL in cahoots with his sister (the spouse of this BIL) and her actual lover. The BIL was forced to marry his sister after she reported that she was "in a family way". He's very well off and made a ton of money selling livestock to the Army during the Civil War. The actual truth was the child his new bride was carrying was not his. He was 30 years her senior and himself had married an older woman who died and left him a large estate (acreage).

Shortly after the marriage of this young widow to this old widower, the 3 contrive a plan to chloroform that gentleman one night upon retiring to bed. Then they plan to put a noose around his neck and hang him. Prior to this they had spread around that he was a bit forlorn and depressed to the point that he had mentioned committing suicide. They make the attempt one night, but fail and the man, Robert Whipp, escapes and runs to a neighbor and the sheriff is summoned.

My 3rd great uncle is arrested, along with his sister and charged with attempted murder. The lover is arrested too, but moves to have his case separated and carried out in another court that isn't prejudiced with the news. This was a big deal in this rural Ohio community. In the end, because Robert cannot positively identify the lover (Alfred Taylor), he is never tried. The other two are found guilty and sentenced to prison at hard labor.

In the trial, the defense notes that in that rural area of northeastern Ohio, there was not the ability for the general public to get a hold of chloroform, so it couldn't have happened as charged.

My 3rd great aunt has the child in prison. Originally his name is listed as son of Robert Whipp, but that is later changed to the last name of her lover (Taylor).

What's ironic is the Governor of Ohio pardons the two a year later. On the reason for that, I'm not sure. This case can be found in law journals as it is cited related to the issue of a spouse being permitted to testify against the other spouse. The original sentence was appealed based on that perceived error. Prior to that, it was a standard and was not allowed. It was eventually found, citing this case, that they can if it's the spouse is committing a crime against the other spouse.

The other irony was that the brother (Lonsdale) became a veterinarian upon his release from prison. The journal I have is of his remedies and such as a vet, AND interestingly he has a page dedicated to how to produce chloroform.

Robert Whipp loses his sight not many years hence and his livestock are stolen from him. He dies a pauper. His only fame is a park which is part of the Cleveland Metropolitan Park system called Whipps Ledges. His former wife marries her lover, moves away to the other side of Ohio where they become successful and wealthy cattle ranchers. Talk about having a skeleton in the closet. My grandfather never told me this story. One of the offshoots of having a grandson who joins the Church of Jesus Christ and researches his ancestry. No wonder he never liked my having joined the Church. This sounds like the basis of a movie.