Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1870-05-17
The McF arland- Richardson Tragedy
MRS. RICHARDSON'S STATEMENT.

MRS RICHARDSON'S STATEMENT.
The Mcfarland trial is ended, and
as we have from the first supposed,
has resulted in a verdict OF acquittal.
The jury after being out about two
hours last Tuesday returned with
verdict of mot Guilty" Immediately
after which declaration the court room
presented q scene of the widest up
roar and confusion; the crowd cheer
ing and rushing forward to shake his
hand and the females to secure lock
of his hair The trial has been one
Of great interest and its progress has
been watched with keen anxiety by a
large majority of the people, aud now
that it is ended the country can
breathe freer. Had it continued much
longer there is a strong probability
Of its entering into the politics of New
York-it being almost nasty enough
and wicked enough to command the
entire attention Of that goddess peo-
pie.
Mrs. Mcfarland has published in
the Tribune a history of the suffer
ingS she endured at the hands of her
husband, portion of which history
we give below. We have no doubs
but that she tells the truth, and that
she has suffered the grossest indigni-
ties at bis hands, and we have as little
doubt that she was the mistress Of
Richardson. Our belief is that he de-
served the fate awarded him, though
We do not Justify Mcfarland in the
shooting. Rum was at the bottom Of
it all. Had Mcfarland never put that
enemy in his mouth tC steal away his
brains" he might now have a luxuri
Gus home and a united family, while
Richardson could be alive to bless the
country with his rare genius. This
Richardson tragedy is one Of the sad
triumphs of rum. But let Us listen tC
| Mrs. Mcfarland;
Now, after have waited i'll patience 10
verdict of the newspapers, Of the publ,
and ola New York court and jury, hay,
decided that l will speak the first and las
words I shall ever speak for myself. An(
this Is what ! mean to do: To write as ex
actly as | can the whole and simple trutl
TO the minutest detail, reserving nothing
and eXtenuating nothing. In doing this
neither ask nor expect sympathy or justic
from the press or the public. ! marie,
, Daniel Mcfarland in 1857. was 4 gin
, Of 19, born in Massachusetts, and educate
in New England schools. ! had been
teacher, and was Just beginning to write
little for the press. Daniel McFarlan
was an Irishnan Of 81 or 50, who had re
ceived partial course at Dartmouth Col
lege, and had, seven years before l kne,
him, been admitted to the Massachusett
! bar. When | married him, herepresente
himself to be member of the bar in Mad
, ison, Wisconsin, with 4 fourishing La
$ practice, brilliant political prospects, an
= possessed Of property to the amount {
! from $50, 900 to So, 600 He also protesse
=. to be a man Of temperate habits, Of tn
, purest morals, and, previous to my MAJ
: rage, appeared neither incorporate, ne
J. brutal, nor profane. After marriage "
e went first to Madison, Wisconsin, being d,
=, tanned till Mr.. Mcfarland could borro
money to continue his journey. We r
turned to New York in February, 1856
Mr. Mcfarland leaving his watch and chat
in pawn at a Rochester hotel to pay h
G board bill" In less than three months a
/ ter their marriage, Mrs Mcfarland wei
home and for fourteen DAYS did not he
from her husband, whom she left in Ne
L York. In answer to a telegram he came
, Mr. Sage's in New Hampshire, and the
e for the first time, she had a suspicion tn
he might be Incorporate. During the SUI
mer Of 1853, Mrs. Mcfarland remained
her fathers, and in the fall returned
= Brooklyn, living with her husband in ty
II or three hired rooms, and he here first b
n gan to come home intoxicated. "He won
II. come home sober, bringing with him bC
-, ties called Scheidam Schnapps, containi
a quart or 50 of vile liquor, and he won
le put them by his bedside and drink SON
times the whole before morning. Wher
begged of him not to do 50, he said, L
ne brain was on fire. and that this made hi
sleep. This is the first time he began
tell me about his brain being on fiji
C. which was a favorite expression with h
t. after he had been drinking, and to viii
IL so many people have testified to his usi
b. on his recent trial for his life. As t
Pc was two or three months before my Fl
rv child was born, and Us all my senses W
M nervOusly acute, and rs | was, also, a
q believe, woman of refined taste and fe
D. ing, his breath and whole body steami
with the vile liquor which he drank DUR
Of these nights while lay awake beside h
sg made him very obnoxious to me, 50 Il
r. before | had been married to him a We
~ my affection for him was very much Oh
II ed might say nearly destroyed"
- Mrs. Richardson then recites at LEM
or the story of her husbands increasing b
" tality and the poverty of their rowing
: among New York boarding houses 6
+Io lodging rooms, her narrow and straitel
- circumstances, feeble health, and ute
- deplorable condition. The narrative coy
,:T the time from 1859 to 1866, and the follt
ing are among the most striking incider
At Christmas, 1862, / was so anxi
= to have Percy with me, and felt so no
y full of doing well during the winter "
IN the dramatic readings which had beg
that | sent Mr.. Mcfarland on to \
Az -, Hampshire to get Percy, who had been
al, this time at my fathers. On this occas
a Mr.. Mcfarland took with him all the
H. tie stock of jewels | possessed-my ril
er- brooches, watch and chain-which had
no this time been so frequently pawned
XII repawned that | did not care TO tGer
ng. aud sold them all in Boston. These v
ler the last jewels ever possessed exec
i've plain gold ring, which is the wedding
IN placed on my hand by my dead husbs
IN, Mr.. Mcfarland was unspeakably crue
les. me the fall and winter of 1862 and |
while we boarded at IS Varick street.
occupied the only sleeping apartment:
Der the parlor floor and he could give