Smyrna times., 1871-05-10
Mrs. Laura Fair.
MYRNA, DEL, May I'd, 1871.

|
der In the first degree, in San Francisco fo,
killing A p. Crttenden, a distinguished Inv.
yer, who, after defending her in court for kill
ing her husband, became so infatuated with
her that he deserted his wife and children and
! LOOK up with her. But he finally renent
ca OF his folly and returned to his ACCOMPLISH
ed wife, who granted him forgiveness This
exASperated Mrs. Fair, she having procured a
divorce from man named Snyder for the sa ke
OF living with Cnttenden, and to avenge her
sell she one evening shot him dead at his nv n
home, whilst seated with his family in tie
nursery. Out Of four or five husbands she has
mad, one drank himself to death, two commit
tea suicide, one got divorced and one She
kLed-nOt including Crittenden. The trial
has brought out the following facts in her his
tory: ED '0' ''i'
She was born in Alabama, and. through
poverty and neglect, reached womanbood
without knowing the wholesome atmospbere
OF nome The family removed to New Or
leans when Laura was sixteen, and here the
girl resolved to enter the world under new cir
cuhStances' Bright IN mind and exceedingly
comely In person, she soon found full invest
ment tor her capital She caught rich hus.
Pand. She was eighteen and he was eighty
MS senlle Jealousy drove her to the remedy Of
ulVOrce but while the action was Dendinp the
dotaru dled In deltriunl trenlenS, and the adj
ventures found herself the mistress of an am
pie fortune She married within a month. and
In less than three was the widow of a suicide
Win the semblanceS of decent sorrow fresh
upon her, she took another husband. Colonel
ralr' ana the fortune of the first running low.
Sne ST emlgrated with this one to Virginia CITY.
Nevada, where she set up a hoStelrv. STYLED
the Fair House." The amiabIe CoIoneI
made way for some one else bv BLOWING his
brains out and the incOrrigibIe widow, sated
with her matrimonial ventures essayed fame
ana fortune on the San Francisco stage as An
actress. Hers were the arts, however which
Go not show to full advantage on the mimic
scene, and her first appearance as Ladv TSn-Ie
was also her last. One conquest she made
was the hnal cause of the present scandal,
She = caphvated the susceptible heart of A. p.
orlttenden, an eX-J udge and an eminent law
Yer. Practlcing all the arts of a macbess cun.
nIng, she lured him from wife and home. rob
ping HIN meantime Of all she could Get. With
Is Is money she penSioned her mother comforta-
ny and re-establiShed herself in the Fair
il"use IN llrglnla City. While still intrigu.
Ing with Crlttenden she met another man nos.
SesSed OF money and made herself his wife
w thout identity or apparent purpose this !
iourth husband fits aimlessly across the
Mucous scene-she shot him. This, at any |
+ lite, was candid; but even Nevada Justice |
TO TRIAL She was defended by Crittcnden 50 |
eIoquently and ably that the Judge seems to
have forgotten the law and the Jury the facts |
Tor she was tllumphantly acquitted
lhe lavOrite OF fortune and favored of ius- |
tlce supported her melancholy widowhood a |
few months, and in 1865 made new MARRIAGE
least, taking to her arms a man of doubtful !
morals but undoubted wealth. who figures ON
me scene as Snyder" She looked upon Sny-
der money, and it was good she looked upon
Snyder and thought that Crttenden was bet.
Ter. Tired OF the sanguinary method, she
gave Snyder the choice Of a divorce, and he.
amlable man, accepted and achieved legal
separation within month
, Crlttenden during these matrimonial trans
1guratlonS still maintained his fatuous devo
non to the adventures. He gave her some
hing like $4,000 altogether AT the time of |
the the Snyder episode he, however, seems to
1ye realized the part he was playing. He
'ent for his wife and family, and meantime in
ormed Mrs. Fair that he could have nothing
more to DO with her. She flooded him with
etterS and denunciatiOn She threatened an
exposure OF his relations with her. Receiy-
ng no answer to these rawlings, she thrust her
elt upon him in his office and avowed herself
lis wife. She dared him to cast her off. The
lext day she shot him dead as he sat beside
lis wife and children
vi me lniamles OF the trial we have no pur-
rose to speak. The worn out plea of insanity
vas put forth, but the jury were not impress
d with it. The woman faced her Judge and.
1ry with matchleSs assurance, in the very face !
# Mrs: Crittenden, declaring herself her vic {
i'm . lawful wife before God" She held
THAT Is termed advanced views of woman !
ood, and some OF them she has put in prac-
ce.o Perhaps sober contemplation of this I
eartul case may convince ladies of her way of e
linking that those fantastic theories which '
trip woman ofthe proverbial attributes of the Q
* can have no other logical result in prac- L
ce than to reduce woman to the condition Of
monster. If the life of Laura Fair, who
ow stands convicted of one of her murders, is a
l0re horrible than tho lives of others of her g
'hool, 1t is not because her principles are any b
orse than those Of the average marriage re- S
'rmer but because she has been more con- il
stent and courageous ill acting up to their t.
timate tendencies N