The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1870-05-11
'rslE sI,rAmLAND AFFAIR.
Statement Of Mrs. Richurd.
SON.
Mcfarland a Drunken Brute.
STORY OF HIS CRUELTIES,

New YORK, May IO.-The Tribune to NOR
row will publish Mrs. Albert d. Richardson's
iuii statement and history of her married lite,
the circumstances of her separation from her
husband, her acquaintance with Mrs. Calhoun,
hlchardSon, and other friends, together with a
conndential statement in writing from Rich
ardson to Junius Henri Browne dated Dec.
l, 1867, and first opened by Mr.. Browne some
time after Richardson's death. Mrs. Richard
son say?:-Now, after have waited in patience
fora verdict of the newspapers, OF the'public
and OF New York court and jury. have de-
cided that will speak the first and last words
l shall ever speak for myself; and this is what
mean TO do, to write as exactly as can the
whole and simple truth to the minutest detail,
reservng nothing and extoauatias ..o.Li.s.
In doing THIS neither ask nor expect sympa-
thy or justice from the press or the public. I
married Daniel Mcfarland in 1857. was a
girl of 10, born in Massachusetts, and educat-
ed in New England schools 1 had been a
teacher and was just beginning to write little
for the press Daniel Mcfarland was an
lrishman of 81 or 49, who had received par
tial course at Dartmouth College, and had
seven years before 1 knew him been admitted
to the Massachusetts bar. When married
him he represented himself to be member of
the bar in Madison, Wisconsin,, with a -four
ishing law practice, brilliant political prospects
from $4,000 to $780, 900. He also protested to
be man of temperate habits, of the purest
morals, and previous to my marriage appeared
neither incorporate nor brutal nor profane.
Alter marriage we went first to Madison, Wis,
being detained till Mr.. Mcfarland could bor-
row money to continue the journey. We re.
turned to New York in February, 1853, Mr.,
McF. leaving his watch and chain in pawn at
Rochester hotel to pay his board bill. In less
than three months after the marriage Mrs
McF. went home and for fourteen days did
not hear from her husband, whom she left in
New York In answer to telegram he came
to Mr. Sage's in New Hampshire, and then for
the nrst time she had suspicion that he
might be Incorporate
During the summer of 1858 Mrs. McF. re-
manned at her fathers and in the fall returned
to Brooklyn, living with her husband II two
or three hired rooms but he here first began to
come intoxicated. He would also come home
sober, bringing with him bottles called schei.
dam schnapps containing a quart or so of vile
liquor and he would put them by his bedside
and drink, sometimes the whole, before morn
ing; When begged him not to do so he said
his brain was on fire and this made him sleep,
This is the first time that he began to tell me
about his brain being on fire, which was ia
vorite expression with him after he had been
drinking and to which so many people have
testified to his using on his recent trial for his
lite. AS this was two or three months before
my first child was born, and as all my senses
were nerv0usly acute, and as was also, as /
believe, woman of refined taste and feeling
h.s breath and whole body steaming with the
'hO hquoi WHlCu uc uTdUk uuTlng LQOSe nights
while lay awake beside him, made him very
obnoxious to me, so that before had been
married to him year my affection for him was
very much chilled, might say nearly destroy
Mrs. Richardson then recites at length the
Story of her husbands increasing brutality and
the poverty OF their rowing life among New
York boarding houses and lodging rooms. her
narrow and Strengthened circumstances, feeble
health and utterly deplorable conditions. The
narrative covers the time from, 10
incidents.
At Christmas, 1852, was so anxious to have
Percy with me and felt SO hopeful of doing |
well during the winter with the dramatic read
lngs which had begun, that sent Mr.. McF.
on to New Hampshire to get Percy, who had |
been all this time at my fathers On this occa-
sion Mr. McF. took with him all the little |
Waeth and c6ain, Which had by this time been
so frequently pawned and redeemed that 1 did |
not care for them, and sold them all in Boston. |
These were the last jewels I ever possessed,
except plain gold ring, which is the wedding |
ring placed on my hand by my dead husband,
Mr. McF. was unspeakably cruel to me dur |
ing the fall aud winter OF 1923. While we
boarded at So Varick street We occupied the |
only sleeping apartments on tho parlor floor,
and he could give full scope to his furies with
out fear OF being overheard. He would lock |
himself into the room with me and give way |
to such terrible fury that only the EXTREMIST |
ing my misery known. He brought home |
what he protested was prusslc acid and threat
ened to take it and 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 he would let !
out his hearts blood before me. He told me
then, shrinking girl, that he kept loaded pis- |
tolls with which he would at any moment shoot |
me- He left one evening. declaring that he |
should shoot gentleman because he had been
invited to join himself, his wife aud another |
lady in party to some public picture gallery,
although had at the most general acquaint-
ance with the party and refused the invitation |
as soon as made. One morning during this |
winter which l am now describing, after Mr. |
McF. had been out nearly all night 10 drunk |
en- ergie and had risen from bed in one of his |
worse tempers, approached as he stood by /
the mirror finishing his toilet and began to
say something soothing to prevent the outburst
of his old temper which L feared was soon
was coming. He turned around and struck
me a blow across my face which made me reel |
backward. From that time took an entirely |
different course with him. When in one of |
these furies l shed great many tears under
bis cruelty and tried to reason with him and
had tried entreaties and persuasions. After |
this whenever he was in one of his paroxysms,
as he himself called them, l never moved or
spoke but keeping perfectly self controlled |
As far as could sat quiet, always keeping
my eye on him, because [ always fancied as |
long as looked steadily at him he would not
do me any mortal violence; believe now, as
believed then, that my life was saved by this |
silence and self control. |
He has sometimes approached with his hands |
extended, the fingers bent like claws, as if he |
were about to clutch my throat, and cried
"How should like to strangle you,' or "Your
life is bound sometime to end in tragedy" or
"Your blood will be on your own head" and
has, as think, been restrained because sim.
ply looked at him without raising word. In
these furies he would often seizs and break
anything which was at hand, lamps, glasses.
mirrors, and sometimes the heavier fnTnitnre
of the room. Often he would rise from bed in
these uncomfortable fits of passion, tearing
away all the bed clothing, tearing in shreds
his own night clothing, throwing anythng he
could find which was breakable, crashing about
the unllghted room till it has seemed to me
there could be no pandemonium worse than
that in which lived, and all this he would do
without explanation or even pretext for COM
plant against me; and when Ikfew no more
what excited him than babe unborn he would
sometimes keep up this conduct and this abuse
for hours without a 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
damned silence lrrltateS me more than if you
talked" In the winter OF '63 and "a we were
at Mr.. Sinclair's, our neghbors one night.
While there Mr.. McF. came home SO bruised
and bleeding from some street brawl, a COM
niOu vi HIS pdrt, ILdC was ODugcU
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. McF.
in his room for more than week. carried
his meals to him myself that his disgrace
might not be seen and commented on hy 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 McFarIand.-
She declined aid from the Sinclairs from mo-
tives which could not allow her to receive
charity, and mentions McFarland's procuring
thousand dollars in January, 1865, by black
mailing an oil land owner of Pennsylvania,
threatening to expose Irregularities in his in
come returns If he did not give him money.
In the winter of 1865 she first met Mrs. Cal
honn' and January ID. 1867, after an unusual
~ narsn and inhuman treatment from her
husband, wrote her the letter giving the state
ment OF ner wrongs and appealing for sympa-
thy and advice, which Mrs Calhoun answered
in the letters which were read on the trial. In
this, Mrs. Richardson says: "Dear, 1 try to
write these things coldly and mechanically
want TO DO so so rs not to be unjust but
| must write YOU feel must let YOU know
| something of my inner life, of the struggles
| that none, no one can see, or 1 shall die. 1
don't know what to do or what course to take.
| | want to be advised. l have written these
| wild words incoherenlly, know, since 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.. McFarland's mode of
| revenging any careless words upon me.
1 In niarJ to Inxy TO