Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1843-02-23
Dreadful affair in I'hila-
deIDhia.
Correspondence Of the N. Y. Tribune.


cd--of young lady residing in Sonihwarl
= and stated, at the time, that something ser
pus WAS likely to grow out of the affair. ! la
prediction has been most sadly realized, au
viii now s'a',-ns hriefy and truly as poss
= BILE, all the circumstances connected with III
:. dreadful affair, whlol has thrown our Who'll
community 'nlo stale VI the greatest excite
ment.
5 On Tuesday and "Wednesday last. cons
k derable talk was produced by the sudden die
appearance at young aud handsone CIR
aged about l6, named Sarah McIcer, tb
daus hler OF Thomas Mercer, 33 Queen street
one oi The most wealthy aud Icspec table IN
habi'ants OF Southwark. A Young man %
This city, named Hutchinson llcbcTton, wa
afr's sled on Suspicion Of being copcerned II
! her abduction, and taken before AldcrIna,
Mitchell, at the INSTANCE OF the girls brother
-who threatened him then with instant dcaii
II h" refused, hut was disc larged III copse
qnencc at the girls return To her parents or
"Wednesday evening. II was ascer,aincd
however, That Il-ber,on had seduced the
young gIrl, aud thai she had gone 10 n house
of III iaine, IN the nciIhbnrhood Of Pine aud
Twelfth streets, kept by Louisa O'Neal
where he had been IN the habit Of meeting
II her.
i Miss Mcrccr's absence, us well as her re-
turn, according to all statements, was ynlun.
tnry. The anguish of the family at the
knowledge oi The dIshonor That had fallen
upon the dauehlc no tongue can tell. or pen
u describe. 10 wipe out the STAN 50 far us Il
was possible so To do, Il marriage was pro-
posed 10 The scduccr. This WIS declined on
his part, aud The brother pf the sc duced then
challenged him. This was also declined
The iniuriaic brother, stung almost to mad
ness determined not to be baulkeJ in his re.
vcngc, lie watched the movements of lie.
bcrion, and having ascer,ainea that he was
to leave the c''y on Friday siiernoon or even.
ing III carnage, by way Of Camden, he
managed to discover the same in the street,
when he employed one Of Vanscivcr's vch.
cIes, driven by young man, 10 whom Mer.
Ger gave Instructions. pointing ont the car.
rage, to lose sight of IT on no candiion, hu,
keep close 10 II, and wherever ii went 10 fol-
low a:ier II. In this carriage, in Company
with llcbrrtor, was seated his legal fricnt
and adviser, Jas. &. Vandykc, Esq, who had
leit his office with the drccasrd with the
hvowcd obJ"ct OF preventing a meeting with
the misguided and excited Mercer. After
having driven through several streets, the
carriage entered the ferry boat John Fitch. |
then lying at Market street wharf. Mercer. |
following alter, lcapcd from his vehicle un.
observed, aud concealed himself behind
box on board the boat, armed with one of
Colts six barrred pistols, Shortly after the
carriage was driven on board with the blinds II
drawn up, aud when within q tcwvyards ofIl
the Jersey shore, Mr.. Vandyke got out o,
the same, walked around, II is presumed, to
see that all was safe, when Mercer approach.
cd The carriage and fired four balls INTO il in
puck succession. One Of them proved fatal,
akng effect under the LETT shoulder blade, !
ma penetrated the heart. llcberton was
conveyed to Cakes tavern ~ Camden, " here
no expired M few minutes. The murderer
vas immediately arrested, aud upon his per-
on was fuppl The pistol two barrels uf which II
illl retained their charge. lis conduc, dur.
ng the remainder Of the evening Is repre-.
cnied as having been Wild aud frantic, cvi. y
cnily laboring under The most intense cy.
i,cmcn..
Thus has the imprudcnt conduct Of once q
Dnd aud doallng daughter. hurled into mise.
Y the peace pnd happiness OF aged and ven "
rab!c parents? When Miss Sarah Mercer
ntcred her fathers residence, after leaving /,
ne abode OF nniamy in Pine street, she avow- '
u her determination not To rcmain--cXprcss.
her attachment for the deccuscd-aul It u
as only Dy force that she was compelled To. !!
Is also sad that her brother had sworn that u
10 too who had dlsgraccd her family, should
II the instant he laid his eyes on her; but {,
rtunalely be was not permitted to stain his !
Inds with "A double murder. ~
The paiIcs IN the above lamcntablc drama II
q of The most wealthy and rcspcclablc
OF the MERGERS, ] have partly i
okcn: and will only add, that The name OF u,
c murderer Is Singleton Mercer for the r.
Isl two ar three years "A clerk IN the store !, r.
Conson ~ Newbold, South Whurvcs, no, .,
t t"nty years of age; fond of society and =,
G world. The murdered, Hutchinson Ilc- "
rtor, was The son Of The late DR.. IIcber,on. j.,
eslInlihle man who died possessed OF II =.
cnt veal b. lie is also related IL the -,
essrs. llcbrriGn, merchants. Matthew New. ii,
RI and nuincfoIs other wealthy anI rcspcc- ,l
be citizens. lie was about u years q! i,
e. lie resided with his widowed mother, .,
m lleber'on, Ninth street, near Arch
iere his lIfclcss body was conveyed on dp
tnTday afternoon about o'clock, N
l"nng Mercer was taken by the Sheriff oI IN
onccs,cr county, to the Woodbnry jall, to rn
AIT his trial for the dreadful deed he has I'm
about O'Clock yesterday, ac- uf
npanled by two cousins aud an attorney. az
, appeared perfectly calm and collected.
There arc various riImors at1oat IN conuec- col
n with IhIs tragic occurrence, and the rep. m,
'ton OF the dead I!cbcrton; but think AZ
W. narrated oil that can be Of interest, and .I,
ch bcl'eve is strictly correct. Mock.
ION, on my part, has been spared To ferret wh
The whole affair and wLcfe such univcr. II 10
excitement cXl.is. us does both IN tins an,
y, where the parties all belong, aud in ce
mden. whose shores was the scene of the
fortunate event, 1t is impossible TO derive n ror
re authentic statement. The verdict OF IIr
C"roncrs Jury, has not yet Lccn made en-,
,lic. ,Lr
leberion's funeral will ,ako place ,o-mor-
(AIonday) at = o'clock, Z. NJ, from his ,bc
hers residence. ,ho
has been sad that tho above account vns tho
of awful rc,rlbuion' and that it Is sGch. ] nlo
who know the parties Will readily admit. In
Derton has been proclaimed the scducrr scr
young and vlr,uuus girl, blasting her fair lh,v
e, mud destroying the peace aud happiness ,h
hiberto respectable family. Thus, true mo,
igh u be- did not jlS'liy the shedding of ~,
q o,'"" p"' we wn,''e ""''F Is one ~ dcu
IuI rcrlbutlon' throughout. call
he period has not been long since the d,v
offence for which IIcbcrton has been