In 1883, Massachusetts Governor Benjamin F. Butler made headlines when he accused Tewksbury management and staff of a variety of abuses ranging from the venal, "financial malfeasance, nepotism, patient abuse, and theft of inmate clothing and monies," to the macabre, including, "trading in bodies of dead paupers and transporting them for a profit to medical schools," and "tanning human flesh to convert to shoes or other objects [...] from Tewksbury paupers." The General Court (state legislature) organized a committee to investigate Tewksbury. Political factions, and newspapers aligned with them, seized upon the story, either highlighting the most lurid parts of the testimony, or denouncing Butler as a liar using false allegations for political gain.