The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-06-20
She was the oldest child. 1 am the young


est. Ny age is twenty
Miss Pitts examined: My name is Rox.
ana Pitts. l was born in 1887, and an
therefore thirty years old. Ny sister wa:
four years my senior. Phillips and my
sister were married on the 18th day oil
July, 1865. Two weeks after, they sepa.
rated, Phillips being absent FIVE months
He then spent two weeks with Us, and left
again for Richmond, saying that he was
going to his fathers, in Surry. Ny sister
heard from him frequently. She put all
the letters in her trunk and kept them
Phillips carried that trunk away last
February. Whenever he left US he stated
that he was going to his uncle's, Mr.. Jo-
seph Phillips, or to Mr.. Charles Dew's.
When he returned to his wife in July,
1866, he arrived on the 18th Of the month.
He said that he had tried his best to get
there on the 18th, as he wanted to be with
En-. on their wedding day, but he couldn't
get buggy, and was therefore behind
time. He left US then, in week or two,
as he said, to attend the funeral Of his
grandfather, in Surry. Came back again
at Christmas, and stayed until the 18th OF
February last.
Early on the morning Of the 18th Of
February Phillips started off with my
sister. He said he was going to his father s
place, near Cabin Point, in Surry county.
Since that time / have never seen him un-
til yesterday. have never seen my sis
ter since that day. lie wrote to my bro
ther three times, and / read all the letters.
| He said in the first, that on arriving in
Richmond they had put up at the Vir-
gnia House. On Sunday they went to
church three times, on Monday they did
some shopping, and on Tuesday they ex-
pected to leave for Surry, but Phillips
| found letter from DR.. Dorsey offering
him a good compensation to attend to his
farm, and he agreed to take it. All this
was in the letter. He also said that En-.
was right sick, and was taking medicine.
DR.. Dorsey, he said, was a near neighbor
of Mr.. Carter, with whom he had before
boarded, which made it more pleasant. |
don't know the exact date Of this letter,
as it was destroyed or misplaced.
When they went away their clothes were
carried in sisters trunk, which had no
name on it. His trunk, which bore his
name, they left behind with mother. They
also took with them hand-trunk, which
was marked with the name of W. +. Phil
lips. | know all my sisters clothing. She
had blue calico, a black silk, and a
striped worsted dress, coarse underskirt,
one new one, hoop skirt, and cotton un-
der garment pointed in the neck.
Colonel Johnson here objected that
"leading questions" were being asked by
the attorney for the Commonwealth, but
the point was ovcrrulcd.
Witness resumed was shown the la
dies clothing in Phillips's trunk yesterday
evening, but had previously described
every article. have piece Of the dress
she had on when she left home. 1t was
new, and was worn then for the first time.
When she left she had on a Strdlo bonnet
trimmed erith blue ribbon, and dark gray
clO0b.
Scraps of the dresses were then ex-
hibitcd, and locks of the prisoners hair,
which had been in the possession of Mrs.
Phillips. Two trunks were then brought
in, one of which, marked with J. Jeter
Philips's name, was empty the other,
which had been found in his room, con-
tanned his own clothing and a lot of female
apparel. The witness identified the gloves
which her sister had worn, a likeness in
the tray of the trunk, several books, and
other articles. Most of TIE clothing was
accurately described by her before she
had seen it. A Bible which was produced
she said belonged to their brother, Frank.
1t contained the following, written with
blue ink in Mrs. Phiilips's handwriting:
Read a portion of this every day, dear
Frank for the sake of your fond sister,
Emma.
An attempt had been made to erase the
name, but it was still legible. Ernest
Linwood," a work Of poetry, and other
books, were recognized as the property OF
Mrs. Phillips. The skirt taken from the
BODY of the murdered woman was then
identified by means of patches and other
marks as the one which Mrs. Phillips had
worn at her marriage, and was found to
measure exactly the same length as the
one in the trunk, which was new, and had
been made a few days before she left home.
Stockings and cotton garments were also
identified, and described minutely by the
witness. The straw hat and cloak, as has
been previously stated, cannot be found.
We deem it unnecessary to prolong our
account by an enumeration of the articles
recognized, but it will probably be sufii-
cient to remark that everything was thus
identified as Mrs. Phillips's property. The
examination Of this witness having been
concluded, as the members Of the bar de-
sired to attend meeting called to take
action on the death Of Judge Lyons, the
Court decided to adjourn until 10 o'clock
to-day, when the examination will be con-
| tinued.
Throughout the day the courtroom was
crowded, and many persons were unable
to gain admission. Some stood in the win
doWs, others thronged in the rear of the
Justices bench, and elbowed the busy re-
porters. When Colonel Johnson entered
in the morning he was preceded by po-
liceman, who opened the way with his
| baton.
Never, probably, in this community has
an event excited more interest than this
dark, complicated, and mysterious affair.
Where circumStantial evidence is strong,
we are apt at once, in our own minds, to
convict the accused; but let all remember
that righteous maxim of law which de-
mands that "every man shall be believed
innocent until proved guilty"
PRESBYTERIAN HYMN BOoE.-The
"Psalms and Hymns adopted by the
General Assembly and placed in the
hands of their Committee Of Publication
in this city for publication is now
ready at the store of the committee,
No. lOlI Main street. The contents Of
this hymn book can hardly fail to be ge-
nerally acceptable to those for whom it is
designed, as the psalms and hymns have
all been submitted to them before adop-
ton, having been extensively published in
| tba ralioious neWsnapers of the denoulina-