Mountain Democrat., 1858-01-02
Letter from Mr.. Obedlah Toy Ior.

At the requestm the U1enuSO OF MT. layIOTJ VINO
is regarded here as an honest and deserving
man, we publish the following letter from him.
From what we have heard Of the man, We pre-
sumo it to he aplain statement Of facts, some
what prcjudiccd it may be, but in the main
correct. IL what he asserts be true, il is 10 be
regretted that he did not lay the wretch who
outraged his child-daughter dead at his feet
We once heard judge say, he "could hirsany
number ofwitnesses in San Francisco to swear
to the innocence of the greatest criminal, and
the records Of that moral city do not give the lie
to his fearful assertion. We give tho letter in
his own language, without the alteration Of q
word:
sAS Francisco, Dec. %, 1857.
II. l.. HISDs, EsQ-DRAR SIR: As the general ex-
cltement of this great metropolis has somewhat sub
sided and the citizens are now turning their atten-
ton to the festive pleasures Of Christmas day, /
beg leave to drop you few items OF fIcfS as they
and have been In my case, with that abonnable
man Robinson, who Is represented to be 50 wealthy
as well NJ moral; yet wtal, whom have reason
to believe is not worth 81 ,O0I, his debts paid
by and through this man l have been basey aud
criminaly accused well as the family Of Mr. Co
burn, my brother-in-law, who and always have
been free from anything bordering upon injustice
wrong motive.
The facts are these On the 10th Of this month last
past, received u telegraph dispatch from Mr.. Roy,
Of Placervlc, which was brought to Inc at Pleasant
Valley, lin II Dorado county, saying Maggie (my
daughtcr) was very Sick and that should come down
immediately. started at once, though II being 0
o'clock Thursday night, and the mex; night, Friday
llth, late In the evening l arrived here.
The first thing. Of course. inquired after my girl
when the astounding news was that my little dauRh
ter Maggie whom believe is pretty generally known
in your city, had been baScly, wickedly, cruelty and
dangerously outraged by the above merchant Robin
soma man whom had always considered to be
my friend, aud had the family Of Mr.. Coburn
thought the same OF him. lie, at times, eGjoyed
thciNhspality, he ut times enjoyed my hospitality.
Part or the next day, which was Saturday the 18TH,
investigated the matter, and the farther went the
more reasons had to he satisfied Of the fact tat he
was the man who had brought disgrace and niamy
upon my family.
saw no place in passing his store that seemed to
warrant me in taking the girl to confront him, as
wished to have him alone with her aud myself l
asked Mr.. COburn to take me tO his (Mr. Robinson
house, it being about dinner hour, thought perhaps
to find him at home. but on inquiry was told bya wo
man living IN his house that he WAS hot AT home.
then concluded to send for lin 10 Mr. CUburu house
in the evening; when, upon bis entering the rnon
told him nj once my business. lie seemed confessed
aud aSUnishcd beyond measure. then brought Ia
Maggie who stated positively facts OF the caAe,
and was told by her that he was the Hail. lie
fcssed that e had asked her to go up into the loft Of
his store, that lie had paitcd her on the back hugged
and kissed her, but no more.
by this time the Doctor, who had attended Maggie.
came n and l believe Mr. Coburn also. then ask.
cd him why he cnticed the girl up into such gar
ret. which was full Of DUST dirt and rubbish, &c and
nothing but glt round ladder to ascend to 1t
by, some II feet high. To this hc gave salts
factory answer, when became so exa peratcd and
mad with rage that struck him two or three times.
had pistol which was not loaded neither did
iuicnd tu use the butt unless that he should draw
some weapon upon me- tfOT you know that some
ga armed herc)
I,y this time the two Mr. Coburns s!cd into the
rOn nd vd my fart safd dniu
bodily injury was then put out OF the room. as Mr..
CObur said The Police would be upon all, and he
would have no more noisc III his house. Berg then
much exhausted having slept none since LETT the
mountains. nor eaten scarcely anything, felt quite
unwe and lad down upon the sofa in another room.
After, perhpps half All hour Mr. Cuburn came in aud
told me that Robinson wanted to do something II
possible to hush the matter up; and sal he cried
like child and did not want his wife and rlildren
at home to know Of such thing. lie stated further
that he owed some three or four thousand dollars,
and II this gO' out his creditors would be down upon
him. And farther wished to deposit all he had in
Cohnrns hands for the injury and iniany brought
upon the child
To this said-"Mr. Coburn you insult me. Don't
allow him to speak to me about property. lie has
done that for which his hearts blood cannot make an
atuncmcht"
After this Mr.. Cohurn left me and heard nothing
more of the matter until the next day, when Nj. Gu
burn told me that Robinson actually urged him to
hold his property for the of the child, and at the
same time % allow him (t"bin-cnl to e" in and ad-
next steamer.
Itold Mr.. Cnhurn did not believe he was worth
much after settling his affairs. AID believed be was
only trying tn get into scrapc. which proved tn
h" the fact for early ON Monday morning hr had u
warrant ont for us all upon the ground 81 "ItnrirR
property This transaction, though the PROPERTY was
nnocenty received by Mr.. Coburn, hc ,Rob.n,on)
urging him to receive Il for the girl, frrihg Rt the
time perhaps sorry for his guilt yet the construction
thrown upon il since has put bad face uIon the
whole affair. The press has been biased against me
a though wanted To compromise crime for money.
but which am bold tO say Is lie. before God and
man. Robinson has been kept up by his creditors,
aud vicious blast has gone forth, Ridcd and nrna
mcnted by his eloquent and eminent Attorney, Mr.
Byrne.
am now under arrest for conspiracy to cxtort
money. SOuyH the chdTDe. have had 10 give bail
for my appearance before the Court 0f Sessions, but
believe that that Honorable Court will not convict me
Of any crime. never struck II man before in my
ife.ncither has any wrong motive ever been nttrb
utcd to my character before i'll all my dealings.
Respectfully Yours, q. TAYLOR, JR'
In addition to the above we checrfnlly give
place to the following. much larger number
of signatures could easily have been obtained,
but it was deemed unnecessary. 1t will be
observed, at glance, that our most pr0min-
ent and reliable citizens bear testimony as to
the good character of Mr. TAYLOR.
We, the undersigned, citizens Of Placrrvillc, are
acquainted with Mr.. Obedah Taylor, who has been
charged with committing serious crime in San
Francisco. Mr.. Taylor resided in this city for about
two years, during which time he bore an irrcproacha
BILE character. was regarded as good citizen. and
an honest, industrious and trustwort y man. From
our knowledge Of him, we cannot believe him guilty
Of the charge alledged against him.
J. r. Davis, Charles W. Barnes.
J. l.. Smith. John Young,
Chas. II. Petit, John Roy,
VIM A. January, Stanley F. Child,
II. II. Fassett, Us. CLARK,
John Fountain, W. M Hale.
Vim. d. Converse, A. A. Van Voorhies,
Va