Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-02-01
From the Plain Dealer.l


We have come in possession OF facts illus
tratiug case of neglect and cruelty, almost
without parallel. On the 10th of last Au-
gust, young couple arrived at the Birch
House. in this city, and were registered as
w. H. Birney and wife, New York. The
husband represented that he had come here
to embark in the insurance business, and
made inquiries for a first class boarding
house. After sOiOurning at the Birch House
one week, Mr.. Birney paid his bill. and he
and his wife took lodgings on Erie street
at No. 96. we believe. Not long afterwards
he left his wife. and travelled through Cam
ada, and elsewhere, ostensibly on matters
connected with the insurance business.
On the 14th of October, Mrs. Brney call
ed at the Birch House, to inquire about
her husbands whereabouts; he had been
absent long time without once writing
her. The next day. Mr.. Birney arrived in
town, and took rooms, once more, with his
wife at the hotel aforesaid. Mrs. Birney
was in daily expectation OF being confined
and. in view of this approaching event, her
father and mother, who resided at Avon,
Connecticut, had been summoned by letter.
Her fathers name was +. Hawley. The
parents arrived on the 10Th OF; October, and
on the afternoon of that day, Mrs Birney
gave birth TO a son. In reply to inquiries
from Mr.. Hawley, in regard to his means,
Birney assured him that he was amply pro-
est desire that Mrs. Hawley should remain
some months, to care for her daughter, and
he would gladly pay her expenses. So
this plan was agreed to, and Mr.. Hawley
returned East clone. .s .-iu -s..i 81 !. :.
On the 22d of October, the landlord gave
Birney his bill. The man said that he
could not pay it then, but would settle it in
day or two. He Informed his wife and
m0ther-in-law that urgent business would
render it necessary for him to go to Gin
cinnati for day or two. They consented
to his going, suppOsing that he would re-
turn promptly. He left on the 23d of Oc-
tOber. and. since that time, nothing has
been heard from him. The poor young
wife, at first uneasy about his prolonged
absence, at length grew anxious, and then
almost frantic, as the days and weeks flew
past, and he did not return; and when the
impression that had fastened upon the
minds of his mother-in-law and the land
lord, that he had run away, was finally
communicated to her, it was feared, for q
time, that the shock would prove fatal. A
disease of one of her limbs was superinduced
by the excitement. arising out Of her hus-
bands cruel desertion. and when the time
arrived that she ought to be well and
strong, she could only hobble about her
room on crutcheS.
Soon after Birney's disa npearance, Mrs
Hawley had occasion to examine her trunk
Wnen Sne IOuuu ntr Ot ST clOCHlnR-a Valua-
BILE cloak and two ele CANT Dire ;ses-lad been
stolen. She was advised to look through
the pawpbrokers' shops in the city, in
search of the stolen goods, and did so. In
one of them she found her cloak. The
pawnbroker said that Mr.. Birney had
pawned it, with two dresses, for an advance
OF $30-Tepresentiug that the property be-
longed to Mrs. Birney. The dresses had
been sold, but the broker offered to give
up the cloak for $40. Mrs. Hawley re-
ported the case TO Mr.. Birch, and he called
on the broker, and finally induced him to
surrender the cloak tor SIS. Thus the
sneaking meanness and rascalIty of Birney
was unmasked, and no further doubt of his
true character could be entertained.
In the meantime, the sick wife with her
mother and an adopted daughter OF the lat
ter-whO had been sent for to assist in
caring for Mrs. Birney-were living at the
Birch House on expense, with scarcely a
cent of money, and the invalid unable to
be moved, and dropping under the weight
of her great sorrow. MIR. Hawley had been
informed of the conduct OF his son-in-law,
and the shock was SO great that it pros
trated him upon bed of sickness, and
eventually caused his death. sfiaf .laa =
Mrs. Birney is refined and cultivated
lady, and her sad misfortunes touched the
hearts of the kind inmates of the Birch