Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1865-12-02
SESSION.

- III liz NN-NA 49, 0
had occupied said room since his death.
Miss Alta Phinney was also recalled, and
said she had not teen to that bureau in
which the poison was found, since the death
Of her father, but had been to another bu-
reau for some handkerchief, &c.
Clara Ayres, st0orH 1 reside in Boylston,
N. Y, but nave been in Foekport since the
18th Of June last, at the residence of Mr..
Edward Giddines. Got acduainted with
the family OF deceased four years ago, for
one year, arid renewed the ~acqaintanee at
the date given above. I was at the house
of the deceased the night before his death
and saw Mrs. Phinney. Our conversation
was on general subjects. She cohversed
about her likes and dislikes, her disposition,
a discarded lover, the war, slavery, crime,
poison and her late marriage.
She said with regard to poison, at was an
easy matter to poison a person it was often
done. In our Northern cities il is very
common. Persons would run q great
risk by doing 50, to be sure.' She was
comparing crime in our cities with slavery
that was the occasion Of the converse
ton OH the subject. She was in favor of
slavery l was not. ! said, Mrs. Phinney,
what do you mean / can't understand
you l insisted on a further explanation,
but she simply said, at is often done in
cities" She said "a gentleman might have
a lady in the house who was not his wife,
and in case this lady should have children,
of course they would be poisoned" She
referred to the subject as MANY as three
times. She said .'She. liked Benny and
Alta very much, but sonic folks she did not
like" She said, "ff do not like 3 person,
l do not want them in my sight that she
could not help this disposition" She said,
81 would rather shoot my own brother than
have him go into the army" She said, IF
l should continue to have this DISPOSE
ton, l don't know what would become
OF me. When she got married, she thought
It would be for the best, but she couldn't
tell what would happen. l told her she
ought rot TO he depending, as she had been
treated well, and nothing had happened
yet. "We couldn't tell" she said.
Cross examination Born in Vermont,
don't know what town or county lived most
all my life in Boylstun, n. Y. Don't know
where we moved to. THE cross examina
tiOn was very long, and we omit many
points not of special INTEREST,"
| came out to Ohio to see my sister, Mrs
Giddings. Did not see Benjamin F. Phin-
ney. He was away in the army. / went
to Washington. On the 10th of June last, l
returned to my sisters, in ROckport, in COM
pany with Charles williams, Of Corrunna,
Mich. Made his acquaintance in Washing
ton. Got to Rockport Sunday morning, June
18th, and have remained there ever since.
Was at the house Of deceased the night be-
fore his death. Went there after the mail
about four o'clock p. NJ. Saw the elder Mr..
Phinney at the P.u.,ho the younger, or any
member of the family. Went into the store,
asked for letters, and then went into the
kitchen. Called to see Alta and Mrs. Phin-
ney. Found both in the kitchen, the lat
ter sewing and the former reading a maya
zine. | stayed about three-quarters of an
hour. Alta Yves there a part of the time
not there when l had this talk with Mrs.
Phinney. Alta went into the store, while
deceased went out, 1 think, to do chores.
Alta returned in about fifteen min
utes. All the topics mentioned were
discussed in a quarter of an hOur.
She and the family had always been on
very friendly terms. After the death of
deceased Mrs. Phinney asked me if l would
not come there and liye and make my home
there. No othe members of the family
had spoken to me about going into the fam
lily as superintendent. l was at the house
when Mrs. Phinney came home after mar
riage, but didn't stay to see her. Had been
there half an hour. Defendant, since her
husbands death, was at my brothers house
WV 4 " 10 81 AL Ou' DNN1L
and are merely good friends-not a bit
of marriage or engagement contract.
I'm twenty-five years old.
DR.. Moore was recalled. The estate of
deceased was found to be worth-personal
property, Sf1 900 real estate $4,000 the
whole not far from S24, 600. No will has
come to my knowledge.
This concluded the testimony on the part
of the State.
Benjamin F. Phinney was called. My
father died about an hour after | got into
the house. Persons present, as | remember,
were Heman Barnum, his wife, | think, DIR.
Lathrop and others, bu tcan't remember their
names. Mrs. Phinney, / think, was there.
Think she stood at the left of the bed. New
er knew that there was poison about the
house. Talked with Heman Barnum about
fathers taking poison. l did not admit to
him that father had poison there. came
TO this city twice with Mrs Phinney after
his deatk Came when she got a mourning
bonnet It was probably three or four. days
after his death. We talked aboUthis death.
The question was asked if witness did not
on that ride, ask defendant about her phys
ical condition.
The counsel for the prosecution objected,
VI 49, 6AihAAn AAldN nv 4uCobioh "ND NV d"
the way of cross examination. The court
held the opinion that the question was not
proper, as it was an effort to substitute testi-
mony in chief for testimony elected by
cross examination.
Mrs. Catherine ". Freeman, stoorn 1 am
the wife of Charles Freeman. | once lived
at the residence of the deceased. 1t was
about six years ago. We lived there nearly
four months once, and two months at another
time. The mother of Alta was living then. My
husband was working at his trade, being a
carpenter. He finished off the house of the
deceased. We boarded there during the time.
l saw a bottle of strychnine that deceased
brought me when l had neuralgia in my
face. asked for laudanum. He called 1t
strychnine. He said when diluted in water
it would answer the sama purpose as laud-
anum when applied to the face. objected.
He said they had tried it and liked it quite
as well. He told me how to use it. l saw
the vial and took it in my hand. I recol-
lect the label it read "~Strychnine." The
device was curious, cross-bones, or some
thing like hat. l had never seen a label
like it, and it struck me. The vial was of
small size.
The vial was here shown.
The vial he gave me was of different
shape, was larger, but had a similar label.
They used poison to kill rats, etc. They
used to put arsenic on bread and lay it
around TO kill rats, as they said. Mrs.
Phinney did it. They also used this strych-
nine TO kill rats, saying it would kill them
quicker. The latter was kept in the bureau
drawer; the arsenic was kept in a paper.
Deceased advised me to use strychnine for
neuralgia; that he had no scruples in using
it. This bureau was in the dining-rOom, off
from the kitchen.
At this point the court adjourned till
nine O'clock this morning.
Legal Intelligence.