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Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
News of the week
Moses Hull of Boston and a crowd of other lunatics, profaned the Sabbath and the beautiful Lake Walden at Concord on the 12th by a noisy meeting, advocating free love and Spiritualism, and resolved "that our present system of marriage is slavery, and that, considering that idiocy, insanity, prostitution, adultery, rape, drunkenness and murder are its legitimate fruits, it is the duty of every lover of humanity to protest against it".
Mary E. Woodard vs. Samuel S. Eastman et al. - This was an action of libel brought by the plaintiff, the wife of Elbridge O. Woodard of Greenfield, against the defendants, publishers of the Gazette & Courier, claiming $5000 as compensation for the damage to her character, by a certain item published in the paper of the defendants on the 25th of Jan. last. The following is the plaintiff’s declaration, and the plaintiff says the defendants printed and published, and caused and procured to be printed, published and circulated, in a certain newspaper, edited and issued by the defendants at Greenfield, in the same county, this false, scandalous and defamatory libel of and concerning the plaintiff, a copy whereof is hereby annexed:
Copy of libel annexed: "Our village was disturbed by a lively row Sat. eve. It appears that Elbridge G. Woodard, whose wife is employed in the kitchen of the Mansion House, had learned from intercepted letters that one Bailey, a blacksmith of Shelburne Falls, had planned an elopement with Mrs. W. Woodard [meaning thereby the plaintiff; and further meaning that she, the plaintiff, had secretly devised, agreed and arranged with the said Bailey, and he with her, to run away and leave her lawful husband, the said Elbridge G. Woodard, and to live with him, the said Bailey, in adultery], his brother Galusha Woodard, and a friend were in waiting at the appointed hour, and when Bailey made his appearance at the rear of the Mansion House, pounced upon him, one Woodard using his fists and the other a whip-stock. Officer Kimball finally separated the parties, but Bailey was badly punished. Thoroughly scared, he rushed for his team at the American House, and made hasty tracks for home, while Woodard, in another sleigh, followed in his pursuit."
Whereby the plaintiff was and is greatly injured in her name, character and reputation, and was and is held up and exposed to public ignominy, shame, and disgrace, and was and is otherwise, greatly damnified. By the plaintiff’s attorney, Charles G. Delano.
Defendants’ answer - And now the defendants come, and for answer say, that they admit that they are the publishers of the Gazette & Courier, and that the article set forth in plaintiff’s declaration was published in the issue of January 25, 1875. The defendants deny each and every other allegation contained in said declaration, and leave the plaintiff to prove the same. They deny that said alleged libelous article is false, scandalous or malicious. They deny that said plaintiff has been in any way injured in her name, character or reputation by said publication...And the defendants aver that said article, as published by them, is substantially true; and they say that the village was disturbed on said Sat. eve. by a lively row; that the plaintiff was employed at the Mansion House; that letters had been intercepted, and that the plaintiff’s husband had learned from said letters that one Bailey had planned an elopement with the plaintiff; that said husband and Galusha, his brother, were in waiting at the appointed hour, and that when Bailey made his appearance in the rear of the Mansion House, they pounced upon him, one with fists, and the other with a whip-stock; and that the parties were separated by Officer Kimball; and Bailey was badly punished, and rushed for his team at the American House, and drove rapidly homeward, pursued by Woodard.
And the defendant further say that said article, set forth in plaintiff’s declaration, was so published by them in good faith, without malice toward the plaintiff, as current news of the day, and substantially as stated by the husband of the plaintiff to the defendants and to the bystanders and to others, on said Sat. eve., and at other times...That said words "that one Bailey planned an elopement with Mrs. W." do not, in their plain, common and natural import, accuse the plaintiff of any action whatever in the matter. It is Bailey who has planned...By C.C. Conant, Defendant’s Att’y.
It was decided to proceed with the case, and C.G. Delano, Esq., counsel for the plaintiff, opened by alleging that the words of the obnoxious item were false, and would be an injury to his client for a long time; would lacerate her feelings and hold her up before the community in shame and disgrace. Admitting that a portion of the facts were true, he said the objectionable words were those which alleged elopement...The counsel then read an item alluding to the libel case, from a recent issue of the Springfield Union, the responsibility for the publication of which he tried to trace to the defendants...
The first witness called by the prosecution was the junior editor of the Gazette & Courier, who was asked under oath, the extent of the circulation of the paper. [This is rather a delicate question with some publishers, but we have no reason to be ashamed of our growth, in the court room or elsewhere]. Mary E. Woodard was next put upon the stand. She had lived in Greenfield about 10 years, and had been married 17 years to Elbridge G. Woodard. She held property and did business in her own name. The publication of the article which she had alleged was libelous, had been made the subject of no little talk and comment about town, and she cited instances when it had been the occasion of sneers and derision when she walked the streets.
People who had been friendly before now cut her acquaintance. She described an interview which she had with Mr. Eastman after the publication of the item. She said that she was real sorry that it had appeared, and asked him to retract it; but he said it was all true, and he could prove it. On the cross examination she said she had worked at the Mansion House 3 days, at the time of the disturbance there. Her husband came for her that night about 7 o’clock in the eve. to take her home. He went out to get his horse; had been gone half an hour when he came back and said there was a gentleman at the door who wanted to see her. She went to the door, saw a gentleman and went right back.
Afterwards she heard a noise but didn’t hear anything said. Didn’t know what the disturbance was about; didn’t anticipate any row; didn’t know what it was. Saw Bailey the week before at the house of friends at Shelburne Falls, and played cards with him. She saw her husband the next day after the fracas, but didn’t see him again that night. She never got a letter from Bailey; didn’t know whether her husband had intercepted one or not; she never wrote to him. She had lived in Coleraine a number of years with her husband. He was in the war 3 years. She had no talk with Mr. Doolittle after the trouble at the Mansion House about the matter, never told anybody that her husband had intercepted letters.
She never told Maggie Tracy anything about it nor Jim Butler. She never had any trouble at Coleraine with her husband; never heard any stories about her character; didn’t remember asking Hugh B. Miller if an accusation of unchastity by her husband was sufficient ground for divorce. She never told Euclid Owen that she was "going to get a good slice out of Eastman". never asked him if they could go back more than 5 years on her character. Didn’t sit on a sofa with Bailey at Shelburne Falls; never told him that he was the "first man that ever turned his back on her". In direct testimony she did not expect her husband to call upon her the night of the fracas. He asked her if she got a letter from Bailey, and she told him she hadn’t.
The prosecution rested their case her, and C.C. Conant Esq. opened for the defense. He told the jury that he would prove that the complainant’s character could not have been greatly injured by the publication, because it was already soiled by a reputation for unchastity in this and an adjoining town; but it would appear in testimony; that the statement published was substantially true. He would show that Bailey received a letter, and came to Greenfield to meet her in obedience to it; that this proposed meeting was the reason that Woodard committed the assault, and because Bailey was going to run away with his wife. Before the witnesses for the defense were called to testify, Lilla B. Woodard, a daughter of the plaintiff, was put upon the stand by the prosecution, and she said that she had complained to her mother about the treatment she receives from the children at school in consequence of the scandal.
The first witness for the defense was Samuel S. Eastman, the senior editor of the Gazette & Courier. He described the interview with Mrs. Woodard at his house after the publication. she asked him if he had not published something about her, and he replied by inquiring if Bailey did not come to meet her, and if letters were not intercepted. She did not deny, but she said "You can’t prove it". She did not ask him to retract or apologize, but was violent in her talk and behavior, and said she would give him all the law he wanted.
E.A. Hall, the junior proprietor of the Gazette was called to the stand, and said that he wrote the item giving an account of the disturbance, that he had no malice towards Mrs. Woodard, and knew her only by reputation. In the cross examination he told how he obtained the facts, as published, by Officer Kimball, whom Woodard had told that he (Woodard) had intercepted letters from Bailey to his wife, arranging to run away with her. Darwin F. Hamilton, a clerk in the post office, did not recollect of a letter passing through the office directed to Mrs. Woodard.
George Doolittle, proprietor of the Mansion House, said the plaintiff worked for him two days at the time of the fracas. He recollected the disturbance. Mrs. Woodard was in the pastry room at the time, adjoining the kitchen, where the sound of voices outside could be plainly heard. He saw Mrs. Woodard when she came for her pay, and she said she ran away because of the trouble. Maggie Tracy, meat cook at the Mansion House, testified that she slept with Mrs. Woodard the night after the disturbance. Mrs. W. told her then that her husband said he had received letters from Shelburne Falls directed to her.
Mrs. Woodard told her that she was "a’feared" to go home. At the time of the disturbance, she (Maggie) was in her room, second story, facing Federal Street, and heard Woodard say that the man was going to run away with his wife, and that he had letters in his pocket to show it. Joseph A. Bailey of Shelburne Falls was the next witness put upon the stand. He saw Mrs. Woodard at Shelburne Falls, at the house of one White, where he joined with her in a game of cards. He left her about 11 o’clock. He came to Greenfield the night of Jan. 23, and hitched his horse at the American House; went to the Mansion House alone; met a man at the entrance of the stable yard, of whom he inquired for the hostler; the man lead him to a short distance and then assaulted him.
He didn’t know as he saw Mrs. Woodard or any other woman. He received a letter from "M.E. Woodard" that day, asking him to meet her in the eve. at the American House. He met a man there, by the name of Hossington, who told him that she wasn’t there. When he was with her at White’s, at Shelburne Falls, she said, when he was seated beside her on a sofa, that "I was the first man that ever turned his back on her". On the cross examination, Bailey said that Hossington told him at Shelburne Falls, the day of the fracas at Greenfield, that he would get a letter from Mrs. Woodard. When he stopped at the American House he went in and took a drink of whiskey. He denied that he knew Mrs. Woodard was at the Mansion House. When asked his name during the fracas, he said it was "Hilliard".
Hugh B. Miller of Coleraine was next called. He had known plaintiff since 1860; her reputation for chastity in Coleraine was not good, and he should think that it was the same at Greenfield. Thomas D. Purrinton of Coleraine knew this woman, and her reputation for chastity was not the best. Charles Webster Smith of Coleraine had heard people say "she" was not what she should be. J.B. Clark of Coleraine said her reputation for chastity was not the best. Dwight Jewett of South Deerfield was acquainted with the plaintiff, and her general reputation for chastity was bad. When cross examined, he said her father and brother had called her character into question. C.B. Tilton of South Deerfield corroborated Mr. Jewett’s statement. Alfred Wells of Greenfield knew Mary Woodard’s reputation, and it was bad. Bela Kellogg of Greenfield said her reputation for chastity was not what it should be.
J.H. Beals testified that his place of business on the night of Jan. 23, was opposite the kitchen of the Mansion House on Federal Street. He thought the noise of the fracas could be heard 20 rods. The distance from the pastry room across the kitchen was 14 ft. He could hear the talk in his store with the door shut. He heard Woodard ask Kimball to arrest Bailey, and when the officer said he would arrest him if he didn’t stop, Woodard said "Mr. Kimball, you don’t understand, this man has had sexual intercourse with my wife" or words to that effect.
C.H. McClellan being called, said that he was a storekeeper in Greenfield. Had known plaintiff in Coleraine and Greenfield, and her reputation for chastity was not good. J.M. Monson has known her for some years, and her reputation has been bad ever since he knew her. Euclid Owen testified to having had conversation with plaintiff in reference to the case. She had asked him how much she was likely to get; a thousand dollars would do her a great deal of good; she meant to "get a good slice out of Eastman". she asked if they could go back on her character to the time she lived in Coelraine. He told her that they could not go back more than 5 years.
Henry L. Miller said that his shop was 22 paces from the entrance to the Mansion House. He heard Woodard’s voice answer to a question "This man was going to run away with my wife". He heard it distinctly. George A. Kimball, the officer who quelled the disturbance, testified that he heard the noise of the fracas as far off as Howland & Lowell’s store, some 15 rods. He found Bailey in the custody of Woodard, told the latter to let him go, and the former to clear out. Kimball declined to arrest Bailey because he had no authority. In answer to his inquiry, Bailey gave his name as "Couillard". Woodard said his name wasn’t Couillard, but Bailey, as he had a letter in his pocket.
The disturbance was within 3 ft. of the windows of the kitchen. Thomas Todd, employed in the Federal Street Market, testified that he went out when he heard the row; saw a fellow running and Woodard after him. In answer to his inquiry, Woodard said the fellow was after his wife. Heard Woodard say to Mr. Kimball, that he had got a letter in his pocket to show the man’s name. This last statement was corroborated by Samuel J. Lyons, who heard a portion of the conversation. Miss Belle W. Eastman, daughter of the senior proprietor of the paper, corroborated her father’s testimony in regard to the conversation between him and Mrs. W., at the interview at the former’s house. She remembered distinctly shutting the hall door when ushering Mrs. W. into the house. Mrs. Woodard did not ask her father to retract the statements in the publication.
The defense here rested their case, and the prosecution then called the following witnesses, who had known the plaintiff and had not heard her reputation called in question: S.L. Shattuck, George W. Potter, Joel Wilson, Hattie A. Sessions, Sarah H. Brown (of Leyden), Lewis W. White. The latter lives at Shelburne Falls, and it was at his house where Bailey was introduced to Mrs. Woodard. They played "Old Maid". Hossington, his wife’s brother, was present. He didn’t see anything out of character. The testimony of Mrs. White was substantially the same. Elbridge G. Woodard, the husband of the plaintiff, was slow called to the stand. He couldn’t describe much of the Mansion House fracas.
He said the letter he told Kimball he had in his pocket was from the Warrior Mowing Machine Co., on the back of which he had some memoranda. He said he heard Bailey was coming there from Bill Hossington. He didn’t have any letter which he had destroyed. He didn’t know that he had told S.D. Bardwell of Shelburne Falls that he had destroyed a letter from Bailey to his wife. He didn’t know that he had left instructions at the post office to have all letters addressed to his wife detained and given to him. On the night of the fracas he didn’t know Bailey. He thrashed a man he did not know, and that he couldn’t see in the dark. He followed him to Shelburne Falls.
Went to Bardwell’s to enter a complaint against Bailey for riding out with his wife. He was over there the same day in Bailey’s shop with Hossington, told him about Bailey and his wife. He didn’t tell Mr. Bardwell that Bailey said he had had all he wanted out of Mrs. Woodard. At this point the prosecution called to the stand Dr. Charles L. Fisk, L.L. Luey, George Pierce Jr., James Newton, A.A. Rankin and S.O. Lamb, who couldn’t recollect that they had heard Mrs. Woodard’s character called to question.
S.D. Bardwell, a magistrate at shelburne Falls, was called by the defense in rebuttal. Woodard came to him on the night of the 23rd of Jan. saying that he had taken a letter from the post office in Greenfield, directed to his wife, purporting to come from Bailey, arranging a meeting. He (Woodard) was exasperated and proceeded to catch Bailey when he came according to his appointment. A complaint of rape was made on Woodard’s representation. On cross examination Mr. Bardwell said that Bailey was tried before him on the complaint, but was discharged because neither Mr. nor Mrs. Woodard appeared against him. Euclid Owen was also called to the stand to contradict Woodard’s statements. Woodard told him that he was about starting for Conway that Sat.; he went into the post office and took out a letter for his wife and noticed it was from Shelburne Falls. He opened it and found it was from Bailey. He didn’t say what he did with the letter.
The evidence in the case was now in, and W.S.B. Hopkins Esq. of Worcester presented the cause of the defense to the jury. It was one of those cases that it was always unpleasant to try, but nevertheless should be tried fully and fairly. There were several points in the statements of the alleged libelous article upon which both sides agree. The counsel for the prosecution objected to the portion which says: "One Bailey, a blacksmith at Shelburne Falls, had planned an elopement with Mrs. W." Were these words libelous? The words were capable of two constructions, and it was left for the jury to determine which was intended...
[Follows a long rehashing of the evidence]. Judge Aldrich charged the jury at considerable length, and with unusual clearness. He explained the difference between slander and libel. A libel is a false imputation which is written or published, holding up the slandered party to more public ridicule and contempt than would words spoken in slander. the plaintiff claims that she has sustained damage in consequence of the article published. The defendants admit the publication. they say that it is not libelous, does not hold up Mrs. Woodard to shame and ridicule. It was not claimed that there was any actual malice on the part of the defendants.
The question of inference or interpretation of the words should be decided by the jury; they should determine the obnoxious meaning; should see practical common sense to reach a verdict; they should decide whether the words were applicable to the plaintiff or not; whether Bailey planned an elopement with Mrs. Woodard or without her aid. If the import of the language was that it was a plan of Bailey alone, then it was no imputation upon Mrs. Woodard. the defendants say that if it was a charge upon Mrs. Woodard, they can prove that it is true. It was for the jury to say whether the truth was established or not.
The judge reviewed the evidence. If what Woodard said in the fracas was competent evidence, it must be proven that it was within the hearing of his wife. This the jury should determine. If the matter is libelous and also true, you must find for the defendants, if libelous and untrue, the verdict should be for the plaintiff. In fixing damage to character, the jury should take the standing of the woman before the public for chastity. A bad character may be hurt, and it was for them to determine the extent. It was competent for the defense to show a bad reputation 10 years before. If a woman years ago was lascivious, the presumption is that her character continues the same. The jury were to judge whether before the publication she was a pure woman.
The case was given to the jury at 4:30 on Thurs. Their first duty was to choose a foreman, as E.D. Merriam, the foreman previously chosen, was challenged off. The judge kept the court open till 9 o’clock in the eve. and then adjourned, and the jury were out all night. At 9 the next morning, they announced that they had still failed to agree, and were called into the court room. The judge took the occasion to say that he thought the case a clear one, and it should not have detained them but a short time. In a case of this type, the burden of proof rested with the plaintiff. It was necessary for the defendants to show only the truth by a preponderance of evidence.
They should show the truth by a fair amount of testimony, absolute truth was not insisted upon. It was the duty of the jury to render a verdict if possible. They should pay proper respect to each others’ opinions. He then sent them out to make another attempt. About half past 11 in the forenoon, the jury sent in for instruction, asking if the word "appears" used in the article alleged to be libelous, did not indicate that there was no direct charge. His Honor instructed them that that was the very point which they themselves must determine. He added that he wanted them to understand that he was not detaining them. If they were satisfied that they could not agree, they might say so and be dismissed. But the jury retired to their room, and in 5 minutes returned a verdict for the defendants. They had had a siege of 19 hours and were dismissed until Mon. morning.
The counsel for the plaintiff had filed a bill of exceptions, which has not yet been approved by the judge.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 2, 1875
The social evil in Colorado
The Denver Chronicle of Apr. 25th contains the following:
"Alderman Case, on behalf of the Judiciary Committee, has submitted an ordinance to regulate the social evil in this city, which will come before the council for adoption. Section 1 of said ordinance authorizes the mayor, on application, approved by the city physician and the committee on police, to issue permits to keep houses of prostitution on payment of 50 dollars per quarter, and to sell liquor therein as if provided with liquor license. The applicant is obliged to furnish, with good sureties, a bond, in the penal sum of 300 dollars, for keeping a quiet and orderly house, and not permit any gaming of any name or nature therein, and for the faithful observance of all city ordinances.
Section 2 provides that the inmates of these houses shall, in no manner, hang out any signs to indicate their character, and shall be accessible, at all times, day and night, to the police. Section 3 compels all private prostitutes to take out license as above. Section 4 provides that no virtuous girl under the age of 18, nor male under the age of 21, shall be permitted to enter these houses without the written consent of their parents.
Section 5 forbids the "nymph" from, in any manner or form, plying their vocation upon the streets, or at the door or windows of the house, nor shall they make any open, meretricious display of themselves upon the street or in any public place. Section 6 makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of no less than 10 dollars, no more than 50 dollars, to violate any of the provisions of this ordinance, and authorizes the mayor to revoke the permit.
Section 7 repeals all former ordinances in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance. Section 8 provides that the ordinance shall take effect June 1, 1875. In submitting the report, the committee say that since the public mind had been directed to the necessity of dealing with this social evil question, they felt called upon to frame some provisions to regulate the same and keep the same under proper restrictions".
Gazette & Courier - Monday, May 31, 1875
News of the week
Another tragedy has occurred in New Hampshire. John Key ser Place, who kept a disreputable house in Rochester, was accidentally shot Sat. night by his son, while the latter was aiding his father in expelling several roughs.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, May 17, 1875
News of the week
The zealous Wilton, Iowa woman who recently entered a house of ill fame, and taking out a girl, tarred and feathered her and then left her in the cold, has been sued for $50,000 by the girl, while her father asks $10,000 for damage done to his house.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, April 26, 1875
News of the week
A shocking affair took place Sat. night at the notorious rum hole and house of ill fame known as the "Bush Tavern", situated a short distance from Staffordville, Conn. on the road from Wales to Stafford. Two roughs named Abraham Wood and Morris Lee demanded admission to the place, which was refused by Benjamin E. Smith, an old man who kept the tavern. Lee then forced his way in and assaulted the old man's daughter, when Smith struck him with a hatchet, wounding him terribly. Wood attempted to break into the windows and Mrs. Smith, with a musket, shot Wood dead on the spot. Smith and his wife and daughter were arrested on Sun. by Constable Perkins and were tried Mon. aft. before Justice Pinney at Staffordville. Smith is 60 years old, and has kept the house two years. Wood was a boss carder at Stafford, was 45 years old and leaves a family.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, March 22, 1875
Bees in the mail bag
To show how the law allowing seeds and other goods to be carried in the mail bags is prostituted to baser uses, some of the papers have stated a case in which an Italian queen bee was enclosed in a little cage which was properly wrapped and directed, and then entrusted to the tender mercies of the mail bags. Sad to state, some inquisitive or thievish postmaster or clerk got badly stung. It would be a good idea for our customers to get good vigorous bees and inclose [sic] with their remittances. It might result in checking their fearful amount of stealing by those connected with the mails, or at least show that sin sometimes secures its own punishment.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, February 22, 1875
Legislative notes
Legislative notes - A bill has passed the House providing that District Attorneys shall prosecute liquor sellers at their discretion. This bill was reported to save several liquor dealers in the eastern part of the State from going to jail. A license bill has been reported, and its provisions are as follows: Section one prohibits any one from selling, exposing or keeping for sale spirituous or intoxicating liquors, save as authorized by this bill, except as regards sales made by any person under any provision of the law requiring him to sell personal property, and sales of elder and native wine by the makers thereof, not to be drunk on the premises. Section 2 provides that druggists and apothecaries may sell pure alcohol for medicinal, mechanical and chemical purposes, their sales to be recorded in a book subject to the inspection of the city and town authorities...No sale of liquor shall be made between 12 o’clock at night and 6 in the morning, nor during any part of the Lord’s day, except inn holders may supply their regular guests; only pure liquor shall be kept or sold; no sales shall be made to a known drunkard, an intoxicated person or a minor; no disorder, indecency, prostitution or gambling shall be allowed on the premises described in the license...Section 15 provides that husband, wife, parent or child, guardian or employer, may recover from $100 to $500 damages from licensees selling to known drunkards, after having been requested in writing not to do so, and that married woman may bring action in heir own name...
Gazette & Courier - Monday, February 8, 1875
Misery and murder
Misery and murder - Not long since several papers gave a short paragraph concerning a young girl in Lynn who threw her infant, 2 weeks old, into the dock, was arrested for the crime, confessed her guilt, and was sent to jail to be tried for murder. The same papers informed us that the seducer walked into court, and after paying a fine of $25 and cost, walked out free. One or two papers alluded to the inequality of the law which permitted a young man of 21 to escape and a mere child of 16 to suffer. A few kind hearted fathers wished "the man sent to jail and the girl set free", mothers looked at their school girls of the same age and shuddered, while the gallant and chivalrous brothers vowed vengeance on the culprit of their own sex. Here and there one heard, "Oh, it is pitiful!" and there all public interest seemed to end. But even with this surface knowledge of facts, the great heart of humanity throbbed with pity for the unfortunate girl. There is, without doubt, too much mawkish sentimentality in the communities, too much tenderness toward criminals who are criminals indeed. The defaulter walks abroad at noon day, while Patrick O'Rafferty is in jail for stealing a loaf of bread for his hungry children. But the inequality in punishment depends quite as much on the morbid sense of our people as on existing laws. If every man who feels the wrong and injustice would devote a day or half of a day toward creating new and better laws, a healthier moral sentiment would soon prevail, and just laws would be faithfully and judiciously executed. With such thoughts in mind, the writer of this article made an effort to learn some of the facts in the case of Lizzie Corcoran. We were permitted to see her for a few moments in jail and found her a small young girl, with a tired, pale face - a child's face, but pleading and pitiful. A very brief interview convinced us that the girl was neither coarse nor hardened. Obeying the well known law of prisoners, no allusion was made to her case, but offers of kindness and sympathy were received with thanks and tears of gratitude. Through her relatives in Lynn, we learned her sad story. At the age of 7 years she was left motherless. At 13 she went out to service, meeting with the usual fortune of a young and ignorant servant in strange families. After a time, she was employed by a family in West Lynn who were connected in a distant way to the girl's step-mother. Here she met http://resources.roo...i?gb=321&action=view Joseph Nicholson , who made her his victim. No one knew or suspected her of wrong doing; her stepmother and friends all testify to the good conduct and quiet manners of the child. When her babe was born she was living in an American family in Lynn, who turned her out of doors at once. "Not content with this", says the informant, "although the babe was born at 3 o'clock in the morning, she was sent out as soon as it was light to order wood and coal, and then told to go home". Sick and miserable, she went to her stepmother and told the story of her disgrace. Although cramped by poverty, she was sheltered and cared for as well as circumstances would permit until the child was 2 weeks old. During that time she appealed to its father to help her; he refused to marry her or give her any pecuniary assistance. A second time she went to him and implored him to give her $2 or $3 that she might have the child christened, and then place it in the home for Little Wanderers. Again he refused, and the heartbroken girl was nearly crazed with guilt. The sad sequel came all too soon. With the child she could not work, and her father's house was more than full. She left home, resolved to place it in the Home, telling her stepmother she would spend the night with her aunt in Boston and come home the next day. Think of it! On a winter afternoon, with her babe of 2 weeks in her arms, the nursing and care she needed were not for her. Alone, sorrowful, disgraced, wretched, sick and miserable, the child started on her pitiable errand. What madness came upon her, whether she again appealed to the man she had loved and trusted, none may tell. No human hand was stretched out to her, no kind voice fell on her ear, no place in all God's world seemed open to her or the little one in her arms. A life of desolation she dared not end by death. The body of the babe was found in the dock, talkative people informed against her, and the desperate, wretched child confessed her guilt. Joseph Nicholson confessed himself to be the child's father, and walked away after paying a fine so small the vilest might pay and sin on; but Lizzie still suffering, must suffer yet more, and be confined in jail to await her trial for murder. A hardened woman might have done the same terrible thing and escaped detection; but her perfect simplicity and ignorance of the law in every respect is also apparent, when she imagined herself powerless and unable to insist on proper support from the father of her child. She only knew the terrible fact of her disgrace, and felt the bitterness of being spurned and scorned by the man she had trusted and loved. One of the most touching features of the case was her persistent efforts to make "Joe" do something for her child. There was no lack of mother love, no attempt to screen herself at his expense, only a child's pitiful pleading for help where help had been promised. All night she wandered about after committing the deed, and all the following day, and the afternoon. In a moment of frenzy the poor girl was guilty of infanticide, while her blood was still fevered by sickness and lack of proper attention. At home, she knew how hard it was for a poor, hard working father to fill the little mouths; abroad was the world, which she, like poor Hetty in 'Adam Bede' "dreaded like scorching fire". Turn where she would, it was all misery and wretchedness, all despair and disgrace. "Dispair", says George Eliot, "no more leans on others than perfect contentment", and Lizzie Corcoran knew the full meaning of despair when she left the home of poverty to find a home for her unwelcome child. In a few weeks she will be tried for murder. Two legal gentlemen have already kindly consented to act as her counsel, and the tone of the public press is highly favorable to the unfortunate girl. Horrible as the crime of infanticide is, cases sometimes occur where the palliating circumstances are strong enough to enlist the sympathy of all thinking people. Had Lizzie Corcoran been the daughter of a rich man she would have been shielded and sheltered from disgrace and crime, but the daughter of a poor laborer, without suitable means of support, without moral training or restraining tenderness, who will venture to call her "fallen", when a life has been such a bitter, hard thing to her who has never had a chance to rise?" (Boston Globe).
Gazette & Courier - Monday, February 1, 1875
A sensation at Governor Bramlette's funeral
A sensation at http://www.bramblett.com/info/civilwar.htm Governor Bramlette 's funeral - The funeral of ex- http://www.lrc.ky.go..._web_leg_moments.htm Governor Bramlette of Kentucky [ http://www.bramblett.com/document/govbram.htm Thomas Elliott Bramlette ] at Louisville on Sat. the 16th, was enlivened by an incident that was almost amusing enough or embarrassing enough to excite a smile or a blush on the lifeless body itself. Laura Bell, a former mistress of the ex-Governor, suddenly made an appearance in the cemetery shortly before burial, and placed a wreath upon his coffin, having succeeded in evading the detectives who had been warned against her, and strictly ordered not to let her in. Gov. Bramlette had supported her in Louisville a year or two, until brought up for it by the church of which he was a member. He then made an able defense of his course, and smoothed the matter over. When he desired to marry, he paid her $10,000, with which she went to Cincinnati and set up a house of ill fame. It was a telegram to her that first gave the news of Bramlette's death to Cincinnati people.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, February 1, 1875
(Greenfield) Cornelius Ballman [probably Cornelius Bullman] of Millers Falls was brought before Justice Davis on Sat. by State Constable Phelps, for keeping a disorderly house, and bound over to the
(Greenfield) Cornelius Ballman [probably Cornelius Bullman] of Millers Falls was brought before Justice Davis on Sat. by State Constable Phelps, for keeping a disorderly house, and bound over to the Superior Court in the sum of $200.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, January 18, 1875
A mother of criminals
A mother of criminals - Some of the most curious and remarkable criminal statistics ever obtained have just been given to the public by Dr. Harris of New York. His attention was called some time since, to a county on the Upper Hudson which showed a remarkable proportion of crime and poverty. Of the whole population - 480 of its 40,000 inhabitants being in the almshouse - and upon looking into the records a little, he found certain names continually appearing. Becoming interested in the subject, he concluded to search the genealogies of these families, and after a thorough investigation he discovered that from a young girl named Margaret - who was left adrift, nobody remembers how - in a village of this county 70 years ago, and in the absence of an almshouse, was left to grow up as best she could - have descended 200 criminals. As an illustration of this remarkable record, in one single generation of her unhappy line, there were 20 children; of them 3 died in infancy, and 17 survived to maturity. Of the 17, 9 served in the State prison for high crimes, an aggregate term of 50 years; while the others were frequent inmates of jails, penitentiaries and alms houses. The whole number of this girl’s descendents, through 6 generations, is 900, and besides the 200 that are on record as criminals, a large number have been idiots, imbeciles, drunkards, lunatics, prostitutes and paupers. A stronger argument for careful treatment of pauper children than these figures would hardly be found.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, January 18, 1875
Intemperance
Intemperance - The following was written by a man who has just broke from intemperance, and read before the Loomis Lodge of Good Templars, in Shelburne Falls, Dec. 23 - We find recorded in the early history of the world the account of a man who planted a vineyard, and became intoxicated with the fruits thereof. Not partially intoxicated, not a little set up, not a little fight, but disgracefully drunk, and helplessly unconscious of his own degradation, so painfully apparent to others. How came he in this condition? Not by once indulging, but probably by long continued indulgence in the drinking, oftener and deeper as appetite called, or as the state of his health required. He might have taken it to regulate his stomach, to aid digestion, or if fatigued with the labor of the day, to refresh himself with; if sweltering under the heat of a midsummer sun he found it a cooling drink; if called to face the cutting winds or biting frosts of winter he took it to renew his youth; in fact, he found it a healing balm for every ill, whether he took it for cares or not we are not able to say, but it is believed his posterity have done so; it is possible a written family receipt was left for their benefit, or it might have been handed down by tradition from generation to generation. It would seem that in the course of time that wine lost some of its healing and strengthening powers, failing to produce soon enough its quickening and enlivening effects, as the ills and pains of man became of a more obstinate and fixed character, requiring more powerful remedies, and man being an inventive genius, always seeking a shorter method of arriving at the shine results, something to do the work quicker and better, was able to produce, after years of study and experiment, what is called strong drink, such as rum, gin, and brandy; but it seems to have been left to the fertile genius of the universal Yankee to bring this all healing balm, this universal cure to perfection; having had the benefit of the experience of the early inventors and taxing his inventive powers to their utmost capacity, he reproduced in these last days an article called http://www.medfordch...index.asp?pageID=132 Medford rum , powerful to cure or kill quickly [ http://www.dailylush..._of_paul_revere.html 68 proof ]. The cases it cures are not the ones we read of, however. Next in order comes old bourbon, fully its equal in the curative powers, and far ahead of it in popularity among the invalid portion of the community, and is even taken in moderate doses by the healthy as a preventative, I suppose, to ward off disease. This bourbon is an extract of musty corn, condemned as unfit feed for http://34.1911encyclopedia.org/M/MU/MULE.htm Kentucky mules . It would seem that perfection was at last attained and no further improvement could be made in medicinal drinks, unless pure and undiluted strychnine is adopted as the family standard drink and medicine. What has been the effects of these experiments and inventions? The effects of this medicine upon man, has it not been for evil and only evil? Is not man the worse off for it today? You have only to look around you and the question is answered. The condition of many around you prove it when compared with what it might have been without rum. It has been the scourge of mankind, the curse of the world; it is the unrelenting foe of man, yet he hugs it to his breast, and viper like it turns and stings to death; it is like the http://www.bakerstreetdozen.com/winningshot1.html pestilence "that walketh at noonday" ; it is like the deadly http://www.answers.com/topic/sirocco sirocco of the desert; it is worse than war, famine, and pestilence combined in its effects upon man; these evils only last a short time and afflict only a small portion of the earth at any one time; while the cry of sorrow, the wail of anguish is continually going up from the whole face of the earth; it is like a funeral pall hanging over the whole earth; it is a liar, a thief and a robber; it promises you strength and gives you weakness; happiness and gives you misery; plenty and brings you want; it is a treacherous friend, flattering that it may lead you to destruction. It is as relentless as death, as unpitying as hell itself; robs earth of its noblest and best, and spares not those of low estate; spares neither age, sex or condition. The http://www.freshministry.org/032804.html Death Angel that called for Egypt’s firstborn was a messenger of mercy compared with the Demon Alcohol. Will he be satisfied with your firstborn? Nay, he will take the child of your old age; all that a man hath will be taken; the life that now is and blast the hopes of that to come. It is like the river of death, broad and deep, its waters dark and turbid in its onward course, leaving want and woe, misery and desolation upon its road. Look out upon its dark waters; it is covered with wrecks - wrecks of human hopes and joys, yet the young men of today are launching out upon the treacherous waters, promising themselves much enjoyment; they may glide along smoothly for a while, but they soon find themselves among shoals and quicksands, yet they heed not the warning voice of friends or the signal lights from a friendly shore, but pass on and on, down, down the stream until night and the storm close down upon them, and the morning light reveals another wreck; wreck of human life - life with all its sweet hopes, life with all its fond expectations, life with all its glorious promises and noble aspirations. where now is the picture of childhood’s imagination, one touched so bright, or youthful fancy painted in so bright colors, or manhood’s riper years and judgment loved to look upon? dissolved in darkness. The voyage of life has ended in shipwreck, and rum has accomplished its hellish mission. If the guilty alone were called to suffer the consequences of rum selling and drinking, the evil would seem less aggravating; but they suffer least. The use and traffic in rum dull and blunt the nobler and finer sensibilities of man’s nature; they are not susceptible to mental suffering; they are in a measure insensible to their true condition and standing in society; they do not see themselves as others see them. It is innocense that suffers most, those whose hearts and consciences are alive, and whole and healthy as God made them. It is woman who suffers most; the kind mother, the affectionate wife, the loving sister whose heart is often wrung with keen and bitter anguish as she looks upon the wrecks of rum. It is the mother’s honest pride that is humbled in the dust as she sees a family of drunkards growing up around her. It is the wife and little ones that suffer most. But woman is strong in faith and hope, as she always was in good works. Hope in woman’s heart never dies. Hope in her heart springs eternal. Woman, true by woman’s nature, hope on, hopes ever, hopes the day of reformation in the object of her heart’s pure affection is not far distant, not dimly seen or faintly hoped for in the far off future, but near at hand. All her prayers and labors are directed to the hastening of that day and she hails the rise of every institution of this kind, every effort put forth for the suppression of the rum traffic, as the harbinger of better days, bringing to her light and joy and sunshine and gladness, new hopes, new aspirations spring up to make glad the heart. What shall we say of the rumseller and the swill vendor? What manner of men are they as a class? Taken together, taken in a body, the men in that business at the present day are generally men who are constitutionally tired, too tired to work; any active mental or manual labor is abhorent to their souls. Life to them is pleasant without work; pleasant if they can live by the toil of others; but a dreary, barren waste, a life of grief and hardship, if compelled to earn an honest dollar! Men who lack the pluck and energy to climb a sidehill pasture of a moonlight night and borrow a sheep of their neighbors; men of sluggish, indolent natures and habits, with not very clear perceptions of right and wrong; men who have natural craving for lucre, and give back as little as possible in return and keep out of jail; this seems to be the height of their ambition. It does not require a large amount of capital to start the business, nor a large amont of brain to carry it on; and of conscience, none is necessary; the less of that the better qualification eminently fit them for the business, and they take to it as naturally as the duck takes to the water. Look at thes men of today, as they stand on the corners of the street, or on the steps of their den, with their hands in their pockets, a stump of a cigar in their mouth, racking their dull brain as to how they shall get another dollar and keep out of jail, or perhaps in a state of semi-consciousness, in a sort of Rip Van Winkle state, fondly dreaming of the time when Massachusetts shall elect a rum Governor and Legislature; then indeed, will the millennium have come to his soul; then will he have the sanction and protection of law. Dissect the body of a rumseller, and in that part where the human heart is supposed to be found, you will find a good-sized granite boulder; or, if so far forgetful of himself as to indulge occasionally in a little cold water, a good sized iceberg. Look at that eye, so expressively beaming; it beams with all the intelligence of a dying pig; or look at that waddling, shuffling, skuffling gait as he skuffs along behind the bar to wait on a dry-throated customer; it shows all the grace and elegance in carriage of a well-bred lobster three miles from salt-water; or see him on his winding way to church of a pleasant Sabbath morning, with his hymn book under his arm, after having administered spiritous consolation to a few of his most thirsty customers and taken in a cargo to last him through sermon time. Ornamental is he not, if not useful? How many such pillars do you suppose it would require to support a good Methodist or Baptist church? While speaking of the church, let us see where they stand on the temperance question; professedly on the side of temperance, but are they fully and strongly committed to the cause? Are they not about half rum and half water? Is there not some inconsistency between their preaching and their practice? If a man thinks it wrong to steal he will not be a receiver of stolen goods, of course; if thieving is a crime, an honest man will not share in the plunder so obtained, of course. The good book says, "the hire of a harlot is not an acceptable offering to God, is not to be cast into the treasury of the Lord". Do you think blood money or rum money is more acceptable to God than the hire of a poor unfortunate? The profits of rumselling is as much the price of blood as Judas’ 30 pieces of silver, which Judas himself refused to keep, or the chief priests to cast into the treasury of the Lord, because it was the price of blood. How many have taken and are taking blood money in this place to support the gospel of Christ? They have no business to levy contributions on the Devil to support the gospel; they have no business to touch rum money; it is blood money; it is the price of sorrow. How was that money spent? Perhaps at midnight, or in the small hours of the morning, while the lone, patient watcher waited, listening for well known foot falls; spent while want pinches little ones at home. And is this your offering to God without spot or blemish? He will have none of it. Did he not reject Cain’s offering? If it had been rum, Cain himself might have been ashamed of it. Good Christian fathers and mothers, while you are seated around your firesides these winter evenings reading the Watchman and Reflector, and Zion’s Herald, your hearts going out in sympathy for the poor heathen, as you read of their ignorant and degraded condition, do you know that schools of ignorance and brutality are growing up all around you? Where are your sons tonight, while you read the Christian Union? Having a good time with their lager beer or http://www.wqln.org/...es/PluckyCharley.htm thribble X ale [used to write about http://www.falstaffbrewing.com/ballantine_ale.htm triple X ale - http://www.brewerian...tleballyale0126.html XXX ], perhaps. Well, part of their spendings will come back to help support your church. Cut loose from rum! What fellowship hath Christ with http://www.occultopedia.com/b/belial.htm Belial ? What fellowship has the spirit of Christ with the spirit of alcohol? They are two antagonistic principles, and cannot dwell together in unity, cannot dwell together in one heart. Brothers and sisters, you who are engaged in a good cause, to which success is already well shared, you may not live to see the full accomplishment of your desires, but others to come after you will reap the fruits of your labors; your labors will not be in vain; work on, fight on, you will in no wise lose your reward; right and justice will prevail; virtue triumph over vice; and as the gloom and mists of night fade and hide away before the light of the coming day, so error and false teaching recede before truth; truth is mighty and will prevail; for "The eternal years of God are here".
Gazette & Courier - Monday, January 11, 1875
Moths in the candle
Moths in the candle - Every moth learns for itself that the candle burns. Every night, while the candle lasts, the slaughter goes on, and leaves its wingless and dead around it. The light is beautiful, and warm, and attractive, and, unscared by the dead, the foolish creatures rush into the flames, and drop, hopelessly singed, their little lives despoiled. It has been supposed that men have reason, and a moral sense. It has been supposed that they observe, draw conclusions, and learn by experience. Indeed, they have been in the habit of looking down upon the animal world as a group of inferior beings, and as subjects of commiseration on account of their defenselessness, yet there is a large class of men, reproduced by every passing generation, that do exactly what the moths do, and die exactly as the moths die. They learn nothing by observation or experience. They draw no conclusions, save those which are fatal to themselves. Around a certain class of brilliant temptations, they gather night after night, and with singed wings or lifeless bodies they strew the ground around them. No instructions, no expostulations, no oservation of ruin, no sense of duty, no observation of ruin, no remonstrances of conscience, have any effect upon them. If they were moths in fact in fact they could not be sillier or more obtuse. They are indeed, so far under the domination of their animal natures that they act like animals, and sacrifice themselves in flames that the world's experience has shown to be fatal. A single passion, which need not be named - further than to say that, when hallowed by love and a legitimate gift of life to life, it is as pure as any passing of the soul - is one of the candles around which the the human moths lie in myriads of disgusting deaths. If anything has been proved by the observation and experience of the world it is that licentiousness, and all illicit gratification of the passion involved in it, are killing sins against a man's own nature - that by it the wings are singed not only, but body and soul are degraded and spoiled. Out of all illicit indulgence come weakness, a perverted moral nature, degradation of character, gross beastliness, benumbed sensibilities, a disgusting life, and a disgraceful death. Before its baleful fire the sanctity of womanhood fades away, the romance of life dies, and the beautiful world loses all its charm. The lives wrecked upon the rock of sensuality are strewn in every direction. Again and again, with endless repetition, young men yield to the song of the siren that beguiles them to their death. They learn nothing, they see nothing, they know nothing but their wild desire, and on they go to desecration and the devil. Every young man who reads this article has two lives before him. He may choose either. He may throw himself away on a few illegitimate delights, which cover his brow with shame in the presence of his mother, and become an old man before his time, with all the wind drained out of his life; or he may grow up into a pure, strong manhood, held in healthy relation to all the joys that pertain to that high estate. He may be a beast in his heart, or he may have a wife whom he worships, children whom he delights in, a self respect which enables him to meet unabashed the noblest woman, and an undisputed place in good society. He may have a dirty imagination, or one that hates and spurns all impurity as both disgusting and poisonous. In brief he may be a man, with a man's powers and immunities - or a sham of a man - a whited sepulchre - conscious that he carries with him his own dead bones, and all uncleanness. It is a matter entirely of choice. He knows what one life is, and where it ends. He knows the essential quality and certain destiny of the other. The man who says he cannot control himself not only lies, but places his Maker in blame. He can control himself, and if he does not, he is both a fool and a beast. The sense of security and purity and self-respect that come of continence, entertained for a single day, is worth more than the illicit pleasures of a world for all time. The pure in heart see God in everything, and see Him everywhere, and they are supremely blest. Wine and strong drink form another candle in which millions of men have singed themselves, and destroyed both body and soul. Here the signs of danger are more apparent than in the other form of sensuality, because there is less secrecy. The candle burns in open space, where all men can see it. Law sits behind, and sanctions its burning. It pays a princely revenue to the government. Women flaunt their http://www.findartic...v79/ai_20824275/pg_6 gauzes in it. Clergymen sweep their robes through it. Respectability uses it to light its banquets. In many regions of the country it is a highly respectable candle. Yet every year, 60,000 persons in this country die of intemperance, and when we think of the blasted lives that live in want and misery, of wives in despair, of loves bruised and blotted out, of children disgraced, of alms houses filled, of crimes committed through its influence, of industry extinguished, and of disease engendered, and remember that this has been going on for thousands of years, wherever wine has been known, what are we to think of the men who still press into the fire? Have they any more sense than the moths? It is almost enough to shake a man's faith in immortality, to learn that he belongs to a race that manifests so little sense, and such hopeless recklessness. There is just one way of safety, and only one, and a young man who stands at the beginning of his career can choose whether he will walk in it, or in the way of danger. There is a notion abroad among men that wine is good; that when properly used it has help in it, that in a certain way it is food, or a help in the digestion of food. We believe that no greater or more fatal hallucination ever possessed the world, and that none so great ever possessed it for so long a time. Wine is a medicine, and men would take no more of it than of any other medicine if it were not pleasant in its taste, and agreeable in its first effects. The men who drink it, drink it because they like it. The theories as to its healthfulness come afterwards. The world cheats itself, and tries to cheat itself in this thing; and the priests who prate of using this world as not abusing it, and the chemists who claim a sort of nutritious property in alcohol which never adds to tissue, and the men who make a jest of water drinking, and know perfectly well that wine and strong drink always have done more harm than good in the world, and always will until that millennium comes, whose feet are constantly tripped from under it by the drunkards that lie prone in its path. The millennium with a grog shop at every corner is just as impossible as seurity with a burglar at every window, or in every room in the house. All men know that drink is a curse, and young men sport around it as if there were something very desirable in it, and sport until they are hopelessly singed, and then join the great sad army that, with undiminished numbers, presses on to its certain death. We do not like to become an exhorter in these columns, but, if it were necessary, we would plead with young men upon weary knees to touch not the accursed thing. Total abstinence, now and forever, is the only guaranty in existence against a drunkard's life and death, and there is no good that can possibly come to a man by drinking. Keep out of the candle. It will always singe your wings or destroy you (Scribner).
Gazette & Courier - Monday, January 11, 1875
Lady clerks in Washington
Lady clerks in Washington - I am acquainted with a lady who writes Spencerian plays in the Patent Office at Washington, for $900 a year. Her father was a naval officer of long and meritorious service, and died Rear Admiral. Her husband put $70,000 on the wrong side of the stock sale in New York, lost, and sneaked to the hereafter through the back door of the suicide. Patient and lovable, she works steadily as if some mighty reward were near at hand. I suppose it is hope on, hope ever with her, though nobody can see what she has to expect more than a life of routine and an humble grave. In Paris she would have flown first to the streets and then to the charcoal brazier. In London it would have been the Argyl Rooms [i.e. http://www.victorian...ications/seven16.htm Argyll Rooms ], gin, and the waters of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfriars_Bridge Blackfriars' bridge . As you pass the tables of the ladies in the Treasury building, you are moving among better materials for romances than exist in the teeming brains of Hugo or Targen[?] "You see that second woman to your left", whispered Spinner. "Her father was once at the head of the railroad. The panic of '65 laid him out. She married a Baden baron; he left her in a year or two for some Dutch flame. She has a noble little boy 5 years old now. Says she is going to fit him for Harvard by and by, and then make a Senator of him. Watch her count that money. You cannot move your fingers up and down in the air as fast as she brushes off the single notes. Never did a day's work of any kind till she came here". All honor to the lady clerks of Washington for adding the strongest proof yet given of women's power to lose friends and fortune and still retain virtue and independence. God bless the multitude of faithful workers, who are showing each day how possible it is for them to earn their own living, and yet remain esteemed and respected ladies.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, January 4, 1875
(Greenfield) In the evidence given before the coronor on the death of Mary M. Martin, the notorious prostitute who was lately found dead in her house at Springfield, one girl testified that Mrs. Mart
(Greenfield) In the evidence given before the coronor on the death of Mary M. Martin, the notorious prostitute who was lately found dead in her house at Springfield, one girl testified that Mrs. Martin recently told her she was soon going to Greenfield to live with an old farmer, and wanted her to go with her. The query now is, who is the old farmer who had bargained with this prostitute to come and live with him.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, December 7, 1874
Elizabeth Varley, only 15 years old, who eloped from Fall River with her brother
Elizabeth Varley, only 15 years old, who eloped from Fall River with her brother-in-law, William Franklin a year ago, was arrested with him at Readville, R.I. a few days ago, and on trial they pleaded guilty. During their absence they have lived in 10 different towns in various parts of New England. The girl stated that at the age of 13 she had led a dissolute life in England.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, November 30, 1874
The
The http://memory.loc.go.../S?ammem/rbpebib:@OR(@field(TITLE+@od1(Annual+report+of+the+number+of+convicts+in+the+Massachusetts+state+prison,+their+employment,++c++with+a+view+of+the+expences+and+income+of+the+institution+for+one+year+ending+Sept++30,+1828+++++[Boston++G++Davidson,+printer+[1828+++))+@field(ALTTITLE+@od1(Annual+report+of+the+number+of+convicts+in+the+Massachusetts+state+prison,+their+employment,++c++with+a+view+of+the+expences+and+income+of+the+institution+for+one+year+ending+Sept++30,+1828+++++[Boston++G++Davidson,+printer+[1828+++))) Massachusetts State Prison - The 68th report of this institution shows the rapid increase in the no. of convicts, there being 683 - an increase of 97 during the year. This fact renders discipline more difficult, escape more easy, and the cost of maintenance greater. Many have to sleep in cot beds in the corridors, and the large increase in expense is owing to the fact that the State has no contracts on which to keep all the men employed. In view of these embarrassments and difficulties, and as the new prison will not be ready for occupancy, probably, in less than 4 years, the inspectors recomend that some action be taken by the Legislature, so that the prison may be enlarged if the exigencies of the State demand. The expenses during the year have been $123,673 and the receipts $81,099. This deficit is in some measure accounted for by the fire, which, besides destroying buildings and fixtures, also burned nearly $3000 of clothing. But the most disastrous consequence was the breaking up of contracts by which over 200 men were http://www.360degree...ine/era4/era4_e.html deprived of labor , and the State of the compensation therefor. Other contracts than those terminated for the reason referred to have since been completed, and new work could not be procured...At the close of the year there were 326 idle men in prison owing to the general stagnation in business. The inspectors believe the State might advantageously undertake the cultivation of certain principles of industry within the prison. Labor might then be secured against interruption...There is a statute law against admitting visitors by fee, and the inspectors recommend that it be strictly enforced, and that from visitors properly admitted no fee will be taken. There have been 2 escapes, 20 pardons, and 14 deaths during the year. The chaplain's report bears testimony to the improved moral and religious condition of the convicts, and states that more than 50 have avowed their conversion and are living consistent Christian lives. The physician's report shows the number admitted to the hospital to have been 30. The warden's report is accompanied with a number of statistical tables. State http://www.simmons.e...hives/charities.html Industrial School for Girls - The 19th annual report of this institution at Lancaster states that in the 5 houses there are accommodations for 159 girls; 51 have been sent out or indentured during the year, 2 died, 5 others have left, and there remained Oct. 1, 82. There has been from year to year a gradual increase in the age of those committed, and a diminution in the mental and physical power of the inmates. The school is reported to be in good order. The expenses for the year have been $28,565. The Superintendent and Chaplain, http://www.noblenet.org/winthrop/pomroydiary.htm Marcus Ames , in his report expresses regret that there are not more committments of those young and wayward girls that roam by night through the streets of Boston and other cities and become permanently vicious.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, November 23, 1874
(Greenfield) At the Springfield police court Mon. morning, Mary Parker and Henry W. Sawtell of Greenfield were fined $24.83 each for fornication. Sawtell cashed up, and promised to pay the woman's f
(Greenfield) At the Springfield police court Mon. morning, Mary Parker and Henry W. Sawtell of Greenfield were fined $24.83 each for fornication. Sawtell cashed up, and promised to pay the woman’s fine too.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, November 16, 1874
The women of Europe by Mrs. E.B. Duffey
The women of Europe by http://www.geocities...ace20/etiquette.html Mrs. E.B. Duffey - In those nations of Europe which have attained the highest degree of civilization, women are found enjoying the greatest number of privileges, mingling freely with the other sex, most respected and honored, and most worthy of respect and honor. This is especially true of Germany, England, France, Sweden and Norway. Russia is just passing from a semi-barbarous state into a civilized one. With the reign of the present czar, the nation awoke to a new life. The serfs are already set free, and next follows the emancipation of women. In the higher ranks, women are already permitted to enjoy peculiar privileges, and the emperor has given his voice in favor of the higher education of women. In truth, many Russian women were allowed to depart from their country and become students in German universities, until for political reasons, it was deemed best (whether wisely or unwisely it is not for me to say) to recall them. Sweden and Norway have, until a few years past, presented a strange contrast in the condition of their women. Mayhew tells us that " http://odin.dep.no/o...ex-dok000-b-n-a.html women in Norway occupy a position of superior honor. They have, perhaps, more to do with the real business of life, and more share in those occupations which require the exertion of intellect and study than in England. They enjoy less compliment, but more respect, which all the sensible members of their sex would infinitely prefer. She indeed who provides for a household, under the peculiar domestic arrangements of the country, and presides over its economy, is held in higher estimation. Women, in fact, hold a very just position in http://www.likestill.../english/norway.html Norway , having that influence and participation in its affairs which develop their mental and cultivate their moral qualities. Yet it is far from true that they occupy themselves entirely with the sober business, paying no attention to the elegant arts of life. Many of them adorn themselves also in those lighter accomplishments which gracefully amuse a leisure hour; but they certainly do not exhaust on song or dance, or the embroidery frame, the most valuable powers they possess. The able and observant traveler, Laing, supplies a true picture of their character and position, observing that among the wealthier merchants the state of the female sex is less natural and less to be admired than among the humble classes, which compose the general mass of society. Generally speaking, therefore, women nowhere play a more important part in the affairs of social life, than in that remote and romantic part of Europe. Among the poor the division of labor between the sexes is excellent; all the indoor work is assigned to the women, all the outdoor labor to the men. With respect to the actual morals of Norway, we may assign them the highest rank. The same author from whom I have just quoted, gives the following as the great difference between the institutions of Norway and those of Sweden: "In the former, manners influence the law. In the latter, law attempts to regulate every detail of public manners". The position of women in Sweden has hitherto been an exceedingly inferior one. http://www-rohan.sds...n1/History_Page.html Fredrika Bremer uttered her heartfelt protest against the wrongs done her sex, and others have spoken and are still speaking, so that already these abject conditions are becoming somewhat modified. The present king and queen hold exceedingly liberal ideas and as a consequence, under their rule progress is more rapid. What the condition of women has been in Sweden, and what it no doubt still is, in some degrees may be discovered from the following quotation, also from Mayhew: "Men, says the public law of Sweden, attain their majority at the age of 21 years, but women remain in tutelage during the entire period of their lives, unless the king grants a privilege of exemption; widows, however, are excepted. Men cannot legally marry before the age of 21. Even to this rule there is an exception, for among the peasants of the north it is lawful for a youth of 18 to take a wife. Women may marry immediately after their confirmation, which never takes place before 14. A man may marry without the consent of any one, but a woman must obtain the sanction of her parent or guardian. The condition of women in Sweden is low in comparison with the other countries of Europe, and offers a strong contrast with that which we discover in Norway. Talks are assigned among the humble orders to the female sex, against which true civilization would revolt. They carry sacks, row boats, sift lime, and bear other heavy labors. Among the middle classes they hold an inferior situation; but among the higher, though little respected, they are comparatively free". I have had some conversation with a Swedish lady of intelligence concerning the present status of women in that country, and am gratified to learn that there has been a marked improvement in the condition of women during late years. Those women who show talents of either literature or art, receive great encouragement and the genuine respect of the community. This lady related to me a significant incident concerning higher education for women in Sweden which is really worth repeating. Upsala University [i.e. http://info.uu.se/fa...university.id5D.html Uppsala University ] was opened to admit women, and recently a woman bore off the highest prize which had been accorded to any student for years, if not a generation, whereupon it was immediately decided by those having control over the university that it was not expedient to admit women to its privileges in future. The lady said she thought the public voice would be so strong in protest, that they would be obliged to revoke this decision, especially as royalty was in favor of giving women the best educational advantage. There is a marked contrast in the condition of the women of Germany in the different classes of social life. In the higher classes they are intelligent, refined and exceedingly domestic in character. They show an aptitude for study, and since some of the universities have been thrown open to them, they avail themselves eagerly of the opportunity for thorough education. The present crown princess of Prussia, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, is, in that country, exerting a strong and most beneficial influence upon society in favor of the higher elevation of women. In the middle classes the women are notable housekeepers, and perhaps, more or less the servants of the men with whom they are connected by marriage or ties of blood. The peasant women are mere slaves and beasts of burden. In this lowest rank in life they perform all the drudgery, while their husbands sit idly by, smoking and watching them. Women in Germany may be seen carrying the hod, wheeling handcarts, plowing, hoeing, chopping wood and engaging in all the menial offices of life, from which they are exempted elsewhere. They are even harnessed to the plow and made to do the labor of horses and mules. A traveler in Austria tells us all this, but goes on to say that these women are strong-minded as well as strong handed, and that their nominal masters suffer in every respect in comparison with them; and that if ever the time comes when political equality shall be extended to the lower class, the women will demand their rights at the same time with the physically and mentally weaker men, and will know how to make a good use of them.In all social revolutions this lowest class is always the hardest and the last to reach, but we may hope for a speedy improvement. In the condition of the women of the upper and middle classes, so that Germany will not long stand behind other nations in this certain evidence of advanced civilization. It is difficult to give any definite idea of the condition of the women of France. It is in many respects most favorable and in others most unfavorable. The http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/salic.htm Salic Law , which rules in France, and which totally excludes women from the throne, or from any political power whatsoever, has worked disastrously throughout society. Women are unconsciously degraded in the minds of men by the knowledge of this seclusion, and the laws are in many cases unjust to them. As a further consequence, those women who have aspired to political power have been forced to seek it in unrecognized channels and by unfair means. Forbidden to be stateswomen they have sought to influence statesmen, and to acquire by craft that power which they were forbidden to seek directly. Thus, less than a century ago, we had the spectacle of France ruled by an unscrupulous woman through a weak and dissolute monarch. In business relations women in France stand on an exact equality with men. The husband and wife are partners in business, the wife usually the head of the firm, and evincing her capabilities by the superiority and discretion of her management. Nearly all avenues of industry for which they are physically fitted, are open to women. In home life, if we go out of that great, boiling, seething cauldron of immorality - Paris - we find great happiness and fidelity. Husbands live for the love of their wives, just as in certain other countries wives are enjoined to live for the love of their husbands without any hint of mutual obligation. The family tie is very strong in France, and domestic happiness is perhaps the rule. The education of women in not yet all that it should be. The girl is a prisoner by her mother's side until she is sent to the convent, from which she issues to go to the http://www.sacred-texts.com/sex/rmn/rmn38.htm conjugal roof . Even the book education is narrow and superficial - a mere smattering of accomplishments; but of human life and the grand interests of science and the world, the girl knows absolutely nothing. She has been kept jealously from this knowledge as though it would contaminate her. Until this false system of education shall be superseded - until convents shall no longer be the training schools of young girls, and they shall find instead a broad life within coeducational institutions, we shall never know the full capabilities of the French woman. Until that shall be done, and young men shall be taught to look upon all women with respect and consideration, it will probably be found, as it is now, unsafe for any woman to walk alone in the public streets, in broad daylight even. Men and women alike need this education in fellowship. Among the peasant class, French women, like German women, perform much of the drudgery. Indeed this may be said, the world over, of that class which is the farthest removed from complete civilization. I have even seen, in this enlightened America, the wife of a farmer get up at daybreak on a summer morning, chop wood, build fire, draw water, milk one or two cows, and then get breakfast for three or four men who sat idly waiting, and never offered to help her in any way. When I have seen such instances, I have been forced to reflect that we would all be savages still if circumstances had not made us, and that these circumstances seem yet to bring no force to bear on some individuals. The position of women in Spain is one especially humiliating and false. They are kept in ignorance and under restraint, and regarded with suspicion. A recent English writer who has had ample opportunities for witnessing social life in Spain, gives the following account: "In the lower walks of life the Spanish maiden is absolutely a prisoner - the prisoner of her madre or 'tea' [i.e. tia] or aunt - until a kind Providence gives her a husband. No Spanish maiden, however poor, can ever walk alone in the street, even for a few paces; if she do so, her character is gone. She cannot go out to service unless her madre or tea be in the same service; and hence all the 'criadas' or maid servants, are widows, who are allowed to have their children in the master's house under their own eye; or unmarried over 40. The Spanish maiden has her choice of only two walks of life, until married life and a husband's protection become her own. Up to the time of her marriage she may, if her mother and father be alive, go to a tailor's shop each day, returning at night, thus earning a few pence a day, and learning a trade. She is escorted thither and homeward by her mother, whose tottering steps and gray hair often contrast strangely with the upright carriage and stately walk of the daughter by her side. If the Spanish maiden, however, have a mother who is a widow, or who has no settled home with her husband, and is for this cause obliged to go out to service to earn her bread, the maiden will probably be with her mother, and, receiving little or no wages, take an idle share in the household duties, and receive each evening - of course in her madre's presence - the visits of her lover. As to saying a single word, or at least, having a walk or a good English chat alone, the young couple never even dream of such a thing. The mother during this period treats her daughter quite like a child. If she does wrong - no matter though she be on the very eve of marriage - the mother administers a sound beating with her fists, and sometimes even a sound kicking. The Spanish mother has no idea of trusting her daughters, nor does she ever attempt the least religious or moral culture. Her system is to prevent any impropriety simply by external precautions. Mother and daughter, though constantly quarreling, and even coming to blows, are very fond of each other, and the old woman, when they go out shopping together, will carry the heavy basket, or cesta, under the burning sun, that she may not spoil her daughter's queenly walk. Her dull eye, too, will grow moist with a tear, and her worn face will kindle with absolute softness and sweetness, if an English senor express his admiration of her child's magnificent hair or flashing black eyes. The moment, however, that the daughter is married, all this is at an end. The mother, to use a vulgar but expressive phrase, "washes her hands of" her care. From the moment of the completion of the marriage ceremony, the mother declines all responsibility, seldom goes to her daughter's house, and treats her almost as a stranger. "Among the higher classes, although different in kind, the treatment of the young, unmarried maiden is almost as strict. She, too, like her humbler sister, can never have the privilege of seeing her lover in private, and very rarely indeed, if ever, is he admitted into the sala when she is sitting. He may contrive to get a few minutes' chat with her through the barred windows of her sala, but when a Spaniard leads his wife from the altar, he knows no more of her character, attainments and disposition, than does the priest who marries them, and perhaps not so much." With the above graphic description of the life led by Spanish women, and their total want of moral and intellectual culture and discipline, can we wonder that Spain, as a nation, is so degraded, so superstitious and so unstable? The mothers mould the men, and give character to the State. How shall I describe the condition of women in England? In many respects it is as similar to that of women in our own country, that it needs no absolute description, only an indication of points of difference. Among the abject poor, both women and men sink far below the level of degradation and suffering, common to the lowest class in this country. If women in that class have no respect paid to their womenhood, and become mere human machines, the same is true of the men also, with this difference, that between individuals of the two sexes, man is always the master and woman the slave. That is to say, there is always one step below the man which the woman occupies. I need not speak of the injustice which the English common law is guilty of toward women, in nearly all instances in which it recognizes her specially. Every intelligent reader is already familiar with its various details. Besides, public sentiment is fast outgrowing this relic of a barbarous age, and already acts of special legislation are doing the sex tardy justice. But woman's position before the law in England is far inferior to that in the United States. Among the higher classes, women have many social privileges accorded them, and many of them display rare literary and scientific attainments. Some of the choicest scholars, artists and literateurs of the age are English women, whose abilities and performances compare favorably with those of the other sex. The English woman, however, of average attainments, and in the middle walk of life, must lead, as viewed from an American point of view, a monotonous existence. Shut out, as she is, by popular sentiment, from all participation in active life, forbidden in the name of her womanhood to seek a career of her own, her mental growth is stunted, her moral nature developed in abnormal directions, and her energies paralyzed. If she is married, and living in the country, her life must be strictly a domestic one, which can only be varied by indulging in the frivolous pursuits of society, or in the highly enspiriting pastime of district visiting and almoner to the poor. I do not wish to speak lightly of the latter task, only, when viewed as the sole mental and moral relaxation in an otherwise humdrum and narrow life, it seems a little dull, to say the least. But the married woman is, after all, exceedingly fortunate tempered with her single sisters. The unmarried gentlewoman, if left unprotected and without means, has no choice whatever in regard to her future occupation. She must go out as a governess or starve. She would certainly rather do the latter than venture into the many occupations which her more independent and (shall I say it?) sensible American sisters adopt without loss of self-respect or esteem of friends. If she have a little means - even if she be an earl's daughter, or the daughter of a millionaire, she is not likely to have much, unless she is an only child, as the law of primogeniture secures all the real estate to the eldest son; the personal property is needed to start the younger sons in life, and the daughters are not supposed to need more than just enough to secure them from want - she settles down in a narrow home with her maid, and her cat, and her vegetables; becomes intensely respectable, and more narrowed in mind and contracted in ideas as the years roll around. There are tens of thousands of English gentlewomen leading this selfish aimless life, forced thereto by the false ideas of an artificial society, to whom a profession or even a trade, to take their minds and thoughts out of the mean center of their own little worlds and give them an objective interest in life, would awaken them to undreamed of energies, and add a vital force to the physical, intellectual and moral power of the nation. Yet England, with all her conservatism, has taken one step toward radical reform in advance of this country. I refer to household suffrage, in which all possessing a certain qualification, irrespective of sex, are entitled to vote in municipal elections. In these elections women have voted quite as generally as men, and no disastrous results seems to have followed. On the contrary, the positive advantages have been so marked that the fact has proved a strong argument in the mouth of the advocates of female suffrage. However, in a country over which a woman rules, it does not seem incongruous that women should take active part in politics. The strangest thing is that there should be any doubt about the propriety of it. Well, the world moves. What we look forward to today as a goal to be reached, may to a future generation be only a landmark of the past. One thing is certain, as the world goes round, and as nations move in ever ascending circles of progress toward perfect civilization, we behold women becoming freer and freer, and more and more completely recognized as her own mistress, the arbiter of her own fate, and as holding the destiny of the world in her hands. Free men must be mated by free women; and wise men descend from wise mothers.
Gazette & Courier - Tuesday, November 10, 1874
Murder in an insane asylum
Murder in an insane asylum - On Wed. night last an epileptic inmate of the http://www.phila.gov...archser/S035-3-4.htm insane department of the alms house at Philadelphia, named George Home, was beaten to death by another inmate, a German named Solomon Spyer. Home was found in his bed Thurs. morning. There were 8 insane persons in the room at the time, but none of them can give any idea of the affair. Spyer, however, says he killed Home because his religion was different, and he intended killing 1000 more. At the inquest, the physician who made the post mortem examination testified that death was caused by strangulation and a verdict was so rendered. The authorities are censured for not increasing the capacity of the insane department, as 1100 inmates are crowded into a space only sufficient for 600.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 28, 1874
The suicide of William H. Palmer of New Haven, in a house of ill fame in New York on Sat. is a peculiarly sad case. He had gone to New Y
The suicide of William H. Palmer of New Haven, in a http://www.historyhouse.com/in_history/guy_town/ house of ill fame in New York on Sat. is a peculiarly sad case. He had gone to New York to invest $1300 belonging to his wife in furniture with which to stock a store in New Haven, but fell in with a woman of bad character, who with others doubtless stripped him of all his funds, as only a little money was found on his body. He had been out riding with the woman the day before, and having spent the night at her house, asked her to bring his breakfast to him in his room; but while she was gone he shot himself through the head. It is supposed that he committed the act because he could not bear the thought of facing his wife and 3 children without the money. He was highly respected in New Haven.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 21, 1874
Eureka Washing Machine [ad has illustration of a girl with a short, to the knee dress and apron, standing beside the washing machine, which appears to be a crate on 4 legs
Eureka Washing Machine [ad has illustration of a girl with a short, to the knee dress and apron, standing beside the washing machine, which appears to be a crate on 4 legs - wooden of course] Has thousands of friends and more are being found daily. It received the first premium among many competitors at the last New England Fair. Agents wanted in every town to sell machines. Town and county rights for sale by the manufacturer. E. Carpenter & Co., Zoar, Mass. Particulars given by J.H. Sears, Greenfield, Mass.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, April 18, 1870
Country girls in London are decoyed into bad houses by advertisements of places to work. A recent trial dis
Country girls in London are decoyed into http://www.washingto...esson_16/uw8235.html bad houses by advertisements of places to work. A recent trial discovered that hundreds of these girls had been ruined in this way by a single firm.
- Mon, Jan 18, 2010
