Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1846-10-03


Captain Mercer. The case attracted
great attention, the bench ITSELF as well as
the body Of the court, being crowded.
There were about a dozen Witnesses and
an attorney on each side, Dir, Somers
| Clarke representing Captain Mercer, and
Mr.. George Dempster the so1-DGsANT wife.
Fromth opening statement ofMr. Clark,
it appeared that Captain Mercer, while
walking with his daughter, near the New
| Church, b ighton, on the evening of June
81, was accosted BY the defendant, who ad.
dressed him as Mr.. Halfor1, and claimed
him as her husband. He repulsed her by
saying, "Don't be a fool" and walked on;
but from tbat time the defendant had re-
peatedly intruded herself into his house,
and he had been obliged to call in the po-
lice to eject her. She then applied to the
Magistrate for advice, stating that, having
become acquainted with Captain Mercer
in Brighton, she consented to become bis
wife that they accordingly left Brighton
by the first train on the morning Of the
lst of October last that they were mar
ried at 10 o'clock the same day at the par.
ish of st. Matthew, Bethnal-green, her
husband calling himself Haltord that they
then lived together for Is days, when he
left her, and she never saw him again till
the 2lst of June, when she met him in
b -ighton, and claimed him as her husband
She also produced 10 the Magistrates a
certificate of her marriage.
Captain Mercer then deposed-"I am a
commander in the Royal Navy. | came
to Brighton in June, I845. On the 28th
of August | went Il, reside at 9 Richmond
place, and remained there till then 22nd of
October. During the whole ofthat period
| was never absent from Brighton a whole
day, nor any one night. | never went IN
der the name of'EIarford or Halford,' or
any other name than my own. Mr..
Clarke-"Now, on the LIST of October,
I845, did you enter into the holy state of
matrimony with the defendant p" ''No."
"Did you ever wear m~oustaches?" "Nev.
er in my life" "In the month of October
had you a white great-coatl" "No."
"And the speetacles you use are tortoise
shelly "Yes and | never had but one
pair in my life On the first of October
last, came to this bench for the purpose
of making the usual declaration in order to
obtain my halE-pay. This is the declara-
ton" Mr. Borrer Cooking at the declar
ation) "And this is my signature as the
sitting Magistrate on that day." Examin.
alton resumed-"On the 18th Of October
! received my halfpay at the Brighton Gus
tom-house. On the 4th of October | or.
dered some wine of Mr.. Trist, and a few
days afterwards | paid for it. I ordered it
myself and paid for it myself. On the 9Th
and 9Th of October | ordered meat of Mr..
GOrringe, III Brighton. About haIfpast
s o'clock on the evening of the Dist of
June the defendant addressed me a st.
Peters Church as her husband, and called
me Mr.. Haliord. On the following NOR
ming she came TO my house before | was
up. Immediately she entered the room she
said, How could be deceived" and then
she sat down in the chair. She again
said | was her husband ; and | told her
she was mistaken, and that she had better
leave. She said we were married at Beth
nal-green, on the 1st Of October, 1s45.
and that we lived together for thirteen
days. She had a paper in her hand,
which she said was a marriage certificate.
After a short time she went away" Mr..
Clarke-"I viii only ask one more uues-
ton. Is not the statement of this woman
that she was married to you on the 1st of
October, and that you afterwards lived
with her thirteen days, altogether MI
true ~ Captain orocr-'PerfcUtly false"
Mr.. John Trist, wine merchant, of
Brighton, deposed that Captain Mercer or
ordered wine ofhim on the 9TH of October,
and paid for it on the 9Th inperson. Sim
liar evidence as TO the purchase of meat,
by captain Mercer, on the 9th and 9Th Of
October, was given by Mr.. Gorringe.
MIR. Henry Gates, Comptroller of the Gus
toms at Brighton, produced the book of
entries oil payments of haiGpay. On the
18th of October there was an entry of a
payment of G37 los. ID. to Capt. Mer-
Ger, in the handwriting of Nr. Jeffrey, who
was at that time Collector of Customs at
Brighton.
Mr.. Dempster here interrupted the case,
by remarking, that although he had sever
al witnesses of great responsibility, whoH
were prepared to swear that Capt. Mercer
was the husband, he could not, after the
evidence which had been adduced, call
them. Some conversation took place, and
the case ended in the summons being with.
drawn. The magistrates joined with
Mr.. Dempster in expressing an opinion that
Capt. Mercer was not the husband, and
with NJ. Clarke in declaring their c%onvic-
ton that the defendant had acted with
good faith in the matter, really believing
that Capt. Mercer was the man whom she
had married in the name of Halford.