The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1857-05-02
Rare scandal.

By the FLOWING it will be seen that ouI
quandam fellOw-citizen, ex-U. S. Marshal OF
Minnesota, and ex candidate for Congress in
1850, has turned up in new character down
at st. Louis:
BREACH OF PRoMISE.-Mrs. Mary j.
Shultz, of this city, commenced suit in the
circuit court yesterday, for $50, 900 damages
against Alexander NJ. Mitchell, of St. Jo-
seph, for breach Of promise of marriage. 1t
appears from the petition Of plaintiff, that
she was engaged to defendant, and that the
marriage was to have taken place at the
Second Presbyterian church on last Monday
evening, April 9th, but that defendant re-
fused to fulfil his engagement, although eve-
ry preparation had been made, and the guests
invited. Defendant is now in this city, stop
ping at the Planters House, and is said to
have an income of 100000 per annum.-
[InteLigenccr, Tuesday.
Sand thereby hangs tale" the upshot OF
which is that the plaintiff has not only suf-
fered breach of promise, but has been wo-
fully deceived in other respects by this same
Alexander NJ. Mitchell. The story goes,
that the courtship
"Brief as The lightning in the collied night"
lasted but about fifteen days. The plaintiff
is a widow lady of good appearance, winning
manners, and an income of about twelve
hundred dollars. Her home is in Weston.
Her style is familiar with the boarders at
Barnum's Hotel, and her acquaintainces are
ranked with the most sexclusive" of the
city. Alexander NJ. Mitchell is originally
from Ohio. He departed that State to fight
the Mexicans, and having returned like an
other troubadour, from the wars, covered
with glory and blood, he was duly presented
with a huge broad sword, beautifully en-
graved, and inlaid with silver and gold, of
course, in token of his gallantry and hero SIN.
His peregrinations for years afterwards We
are not advised of, but learn from his own
representations that he is now resident of
St. Joseph, in this State, and is largely in
terested in several extensive tracts of land,
and has an annual income of $40 900, which
he desires the assistance of a wife to help
him disburse. He is reported tall, has a
striking countenance, cultivates the criniger
Gus tendencies of his face, wears merchant
tailor clothes, carries himself high, q Ia mil
Iaire. and talks like book. He came to
the city more than fortnight ago, and hav-
ing by some means met the widow, conclu-
ded to ''go in'' The effort required some
extraneous assistance, and by his own con-
fesson, he had occasion time and again, to
take "sperits." He pressed his suit with
ardor, and in..a few days was the accepted
man. The engagement was not suffered to
cool. The day was fixed, (last Monday the
plstor, DR.. Rice, was engaged to perform the
nuptials in his church. The lady made hur-
ried and most expensive preparations. The
rumor goes that her linen alone cost about
twelve hundred dollars, and that great
many of her articles of dress were duly
marked with the surname of her intended
husband. Jewelry had been purchased by
the Colonel to the value of ST. 900, and pre-
sented to the widow, who, to hold it secure,
locked it up in the safe at Barnum's. The
report is, that the diamonds of this same
jewelry were not from Golconda, but Pitts
burg. Invitation cards, of beautiful design
and costly material were distributed around
among the aristocracy. Anticipations were
high. Monday night came and no wedding.
Reason-absencc of the bridegroom. Where
was he? Echo answered-had fizzlcd and
was about taking passage for st. Joseph on
board the Morning Star. He approached
the clerk of the boat and demanded berth
in the gentlemen's cabin. The clerk, who
was sup to snuff" desired to know if he was
not going to take his wife up. Said he had
no wife, and didn't intend having any. Clerk
communicated around. The story began to
fly, and finally reached the widows ears
She sent for him. He wouldn't 60, but f.
nally consented to an interview. What
transpired is not precisely ascertained, but
he afterwards said he told her he was drunk
when he promised to marry her. She ap-
pealed to him, but he was obdurate. She
sued, as the above paragraph explains. He
was duly served with notice, but, neverthe-
less departed on his way homeward, leaving
. promise that if after six months conside-
ration he should be in the mind he would be
down and marry. This is a plain, unvar-
nished statement of the scandal which has
been flying the town in regard to the mat
ter. There are a great many incidental re-
ports, which we have not had time nor space
to relate. The sympathies of our citizens
are quite fully enlisted for the widow. The
eminent counsel engaged, we are quite sure.
will find something more tangible to build
his case upon than "pork-chOps and tomato
sauce" In the event of a successful suit,
however, we are afraid the Colonel will beat
the sheriff on execution.
While the case appears prolific theme
for thousand scandal tongues, we hope the
lesson it teaches may not be lost upon the
rising generation. Beware of these military
fellers.-&. Louis Dem. XIX b.