Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1870-05-12


doing well during the winter with the dramat-
ic readings which | had begun, that | sent
Mr. Mcfarland on to New Hampshire to get
Percy who had been all this time at my faith
ers. On this occasion Mr.. Mcfarland took
with him all the little stock of jewels pos
sessed-my rings, brooches. watch and chain
which had by this time been SO frequently
pawned and repawned that did not care for
them--and sold them all in Boston These
were the last jewels / ever possessed except
plain gold ring, which is the wedding ring
placed on my hand by my dead husband.
Mr.. Mcfarland was unspeakably cruel to me
the fall and winter of 1862 and 1863 while we
boarded at IS Varick street. We occupied
the only sleeping apartments on the parlor
floor and he could give full scope to his flu
ries without fear of being overheard. lie
would lock himself into the room with me and
give way to such terrible fury that only the
EXTREMIST pride and self-control prevented
me from making my misery known. lie
brought home what be Professcd was prussic
acid, and threatened to take ii and to force
me to take it also He would snatch my
scissors from my work basket and laying
open his breast, he would brandish them about,
swearing that 'he would let out his hearts
blood before me. He told me then. a shrink
ing girl, that he kept loaded pistols, with
which he would at any moment shoot me- He
left one evening, declaring that he would
shoot a gentleman, because he had been
invited to Join himself, his wife and anoth-
err lady in Il party to some public picture
gallery, although | had, at the most, a gener-
al acquaintance with the party, and refused
the invitation as soon as made. One morn
ing during this winter which | am now de-
scribing. after Mr.. Mcfarland had been out
nearly all night in drunken orgie, and had
risen from bed in one of his worse tempers.
| approached him as he stood by the mirror
finishing his toilet, and began to say some
thing soothing to prevent the outburst of his
ill temper which / feared soon coming.
when he turned and struck me blow across
my face, which made me reel backward.
From that | took an entirely different course
with him. When in one of these turies | had
shed a great many tears under his cruelty and
had tried to reason with him, and had tried
entreates and persuasion; after this, whenever
he was in one of his paroxisms, as he himself
called them, l never moved nor spoke, but
keeping perfectly self-controlled, as far as
could, got quiet, always keeping my eye on
him, because always tancied as the longer |
looked steadily at him he would not do me
any mortal violence. And believe now- as
l believed then, that my life was saved by this
silence and sclf-control
He has sometimes approached me with his
! hands extended, and fingers bent ike claws
as if he were about to clutch my throat, and
cried How | should like to strangle you. OF,
Your life is bound some time to end in trag
edy > or, Your blood will be on your own
head and has, as think, been restrained be-
cause | simply looked at him. without raising
a word. In these flries he would often seize
and break anything which was at hand--lamps,
glasses. mirrors and sometimes the heavier
furniture of the room. Often he would rise
from bed in these uncomfortable fits of pas
sion, tearing away all the bed clothing, tear
ing in shreds his own night clothes, throwing
anything he could find which was breakable,
crashing about the unlighted room till it
seemed to me there could be no pandemonium
worse than that in which lived; and all this
he would do without explanation or even pre-
text for complaint against me, and when |
knew no more what excited him than babe
unborn. He would sometimes keep up this
conduct and this abuse for hours, without
syllable or a motion being made on my part,
and he would then burst into tears, begging
my pardon, say was the best woman that
ever lived, and then go to sleep exhausted.
Sometimes he said, Your - silence irrita-
ties me more than if you talked In the win
ter of 1868 and GA we were'at Mr.. Sinclair's,
our neighbors. One night while there Mr.
Mcfarland came home so bruised and bleed
ing from some street brawl Ga common occur
renee on his part), that was obliged to call
on Mr.. Sinclair for aid in getting him to bed
1t was only two or three weeks before the
death of my youngest child, or | should not
have done so. This event kept Mr.. McFar
land in his room for more than week. |
carried his meals to him myself that his dis
grace might not be seen and commented on by
the boarders.'
Mrs. Richardson also narrates her efforts to
support herself and her children by writing
for papers and magazines; the greater part of
her earnings being appropriated by McFar-
land. She declined aid from the Sncars
from motives which could not allow her to re-
ceive charity, and mentions Netherlands pro-
curing thousand dollars in January, 1866,
by Matchmaking an oil land owner of Penn
sylvania, threatening to expose irregularities
in his income returns if he did not give him
money. In the winter of 1866 she first met
Mrs. Calhoun, and January 3D. 1867, after
unusually harsh and inhuman treatment from
her husband, wrote her the letter giving the
statement of her wrongs, and appealing for
sympathy and advice, which Mrs. Calhoun
answered in the letters which were read on
the trial. In this Mrs. Richardson says:
''Dear--I try to write these things coldy
and mechanically. l want to do so, not
to be unjust, but | must write you. | feel
that must let you know something of my in
ncr life, and of the struggles that no one can
see, or 1 snail ulc. uOn | KNOW what 10 90,
or what course to take. l want to be advised.
have written these wild words incoherently.
| know writing is not my natural method of
expression to get some of this weight off Of
me, and have tried to write justly. | know
l must in some way protect myself from Mr..
Netherlands mode of revengng any careless
words upon me. | have half made up my
mind to-day to tell the Sinclairs feel the en-
croachmcnts of his habits, dread my future
so much, and have my babies to think of be-
side. Yesterday he drew two weeks of my
salary at the theatre and paid the weeks
board bill, and, fear, will spend good deal
of the money, which we need so much in
liquor. Don't come to me after reading this
l fear shall repent writing it. Yours always.
(Signcd) ABBY
''On the evening of February 20, 1867"
says Mrs. Richardson, ''before going to the
theatre, | secreted his razors, his pocket
knife my scissors, and all articles | consider
ed dangerous, as frequently did on such oc
casions, and left him; but when | came home
he was still raging. He frequently had made
threats of committing suicide, going out of