Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1859-03-02
AN EXTRAORDINARY DIVORCE CASE.

ulFOrce case now pending in Philadelphia,
known as the cry Divorce Case, in view of
the conflicting statements that have from vari-
Gus quarters come before the public, and the
dlfnculty of obtaining a distinct and correct
understanding of the position of affairs. But
the authentic documents just published fur
nlsh complete information on the subject.
Ihey are too long to be here reproduced en-
tlre-they occupy some fourteen columns in
the New York papers-but we give below
review Of the case as far as it has progressed
| up to the present moment.
MIR. Horace B. Fry is broker of Philadel-
| phia, IN moderate circumstances, and occupy
ing respectable social position. Last Sum-
mer, on the I'd day of August, he married Miss
Emily L. Grigg, daughter of John Grigg,
wealthy retired bookseller. The lady was per-
sonally attractive, but possessed no property
IN her own right The marriage was declared
| to be one purely of affection. Before month
had passed, however, the troubles which have
since been made public began. Mr.. and Mrs.
Fry started Immediately after the marriage
upon wedding tour, which extended no far
Their than West Point, where events occurred,
according to the husbands statement, which
lmpelled him to insist upon return TO Phlla-
! delphla. Immediately after, correspondence
was established between Mr.. Fry and young
cadet, whom she had met at West Point, which
was detected by Mr.. Fry, and which caused
| quarrel that resulted in the lady's retirement
to her fathers house. This separation occur
! red IN less than a month after the marriage.
| The affair became universally public about
seven weeks ago, through petition presented
on the 9th of last December to the Legisla-
ture of Pennsylvania by Mrs. Fry, praying
that an act be passed annulling the bonds of
matrimony between herself and her husband.
She excuses her application to the Legislature
| on thp UrOunl that her case is q macmillan ono
and one that could not be maintained ia court
| of justice The reasons alleged for the appli-
| cation are, that Mr.. Fry swore at her on the
| wedding day, because of the amount of her
baggage; that two days after, he swore at her
for reminding him that they were in danger of
losing the cars that at West Point he flung
her upon the floor, threw chairs at her, and to
get rid of her temporarily, introduced her to
gentleman, whose sympathy she sought, caus
ing Mr. Fry to become jealous, and conse-
quently more violent than ever producing a
hemorhage of the lungs; that he took pistols
from his trunk, threatening to shoot her, but
afterwards discovered that the weapons were
not loaded; that he himself proposed divorce,
to which she consented, but found that he had
changed his mind when the time came; that
he sent to her father a sanderous article upon
her character from the Police Gazette; that
he had averred his motive in marrying her
was only to obtain her money, and that he
wished her to die, that he might marry anoth-
er woman whom he loved.
Mr. Fry heard of this petition and, without
having seen it, Or knowing its contents, had
circular letter printed, and copy put on the
desk of every member of the Pennsylvania
House and Senate. The letter said that if the
petition averred any acts of improperly Of any
sort on his part, he most solemnly, unequivo
cally and absolutely denied them; that his
wife had deserted him without any cause, ex-
cepting her own ungovernable desires and
that he demanded trial by jury. Suisse
quently Mr.. Fry prepared a response to his
wife's petition, in which he denied with much
minuteness each particular allegation made by
her. He stated that the actions charged by
Mrs. Fry were such as to put the case exclu-
sively within the jurisdiction of the courts Of
the Commonwealth. He thus related the Cir
cumstances of his marriage:
II married my wife, as she states, the second
day of August She was young and beautiful; with
presence demanding no drafts upon fathers
wealth to my preference, which was based on
a single and honest affection. From my boyhood,
my support and independence had been the fruit of
my own labor; and at the age of twenty-eight when
had found one who, as wife, would make me a
happy home, l knew that to my own reasonable
wants or desires, those of any modest woman, my
means and business were quite equal This is my
reply to the assertions that nsulted my wife by de-
claring had married her for the fortune which she
she never did, and, and does not now possess. No
suggestion, even, to that effect passed my lips
directly or indirectly much less in the form of rude
| taunt which she AYERS used"
In the same emphatic manner Mr.. Fry con-
tradicts every one of the allegations of the
lady, excepting that on one occasion only, at
West Point, when her conduct passed all
bounds, he admits that he expressed himself
as the sudden passion prompted, but promptly
begged her pardon, which she as promptly
granted. To intensity his denial of one or
two charges, Mr.. Fry says he never owned nor
had in his possession pistol in his whole life ;
that the pretended hemorrhage of the lungs
was a bleeding at the nose, and that phys-
clan who was called could discover no disease
He also gave, at some length, his own version
of the difficulties and their causes. He asserts
that Immediately after the marriage, he dis
covered indications of a bad temper that had
always before been concealed from him; that
on their arrival at West Point Mrs. Fry at
once established an intimacy with young
cadet named Wagner, which led to conduct
exciting the severest comments from all who
observed it; that still his too partial senses
failed to interpret exactly her manner; that
he ever strove to regain her confidence and
love by numberless expedients but that at
last he was obliged to yield to the proofs Of
her nfidelity. These. proofs were adduced in
the following manner. A week after the
return from West Point, letter was brought
to Mr.. Fry's residence on Walnut street, d-
rected to Mrs. Fry, which was found to be
from Wagner, avowing for her the intensest
affection, and acknowledging the receipt of
letter from her. The father of Mrs. Fry who
was present when this scene of exposure oc-
cured never rebuked his daughter, according
to Mr.. Fry, but expressed only the deepest
sympathy with her. The ultimate result of
this outburst was sudden acknowledgment of
her errors, and a promise to return to her duty
on the part of Mrs. Fry, but on the very next
day she wrote a long letter to her lover at
West Point, which Mr.. Fry secured-with
another letter and her daguerreotype, already
sent-and published. 1t acknowledges Mr.
Fry's kindnesses, and ridicules him for them.
1t expresses her intensity Of hatred for him.
The reason given for the temporary submis-
sion to Mr.. Frys desire for reconciliation is
her fear that otherwise vengeance might be
taken on cher dearest" Mrs. Fry says in
this letter that her husband even promised to
treat this lover kindly when they met, for her
sake She asked her lovers advice about the
divorce. She begs to be permitted to live with
him. Here are her words
"when you leave West Point, let me live in the
same town with yon if II is as common servant.
Let me be you. and shall be happy, for can
not live without you. read your letter over and
over; but do not talk Of soldiers grave, for If you
die, what have to live for! think the future looks
brighter, II can ever get away without being dis
covered. Can you not invent some plan! think
would rather go to New York, as would feel near
| er to you, and then would be safer than here. /
feel, now, able to go through anything, for all my
love is centred upon you, though perhaps, ought
not to say it, will not take any step ~ ] hear
from you again; that is, if you will write TO me
again. There is nothing in the world would not
DO for you, even to death. Mr. Fry asked me to tell