The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-07-24
ansine hsssi tleapa,1, DR. z Murphy, was re-
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that the Ingenuity Of man, can devise bilt
what has heeIf raised against me and cIrcu-
lated with the rapitiity Of lightning since
this unfortunate tlliir OF mine with Mr.
Crittcnd1n. IT has been said that Colonel
Fair.was sheriff of Siskiy0u county and that
he ahsroaded with a large sum of money
belonging 10 the county, and that 7, his
wife. ran away with nan by the name of
Gordon. Now, there was 4 man by the
name of Fair she'i in' Of that county, and he
is reported to have ahsconded, but whether
he had wife orsnot, II am unable to say, or
whether nan ny the name Of Gordon ran
away with her. Ttis. name was Samuel
Fair. aut in no way was he connected with
my husband and ny for Gordon, Inever
saw him. = It has been stated that 80.
SHOT MY PARTNER
in the Tahoe House. inNirginia City, for
attempting to raise the American flag over
my house. and that MIR. CJttcpden defend
cd me- Also that 1 walked the streets of
that city with Confederate flag In one
hand pistol in the other. All this is false,
and one of the meanest things ever utter
ed. There was falsehood enough uttered
against me on my trial, under the solemul-
tv of an oath, to crush q dozen mortals like
me, without resorting to wholesale menda-
city like this. This is all u malicious man.
ufacture. In the first place, never had
partner in huSin, IS nor in the Tahoe House,
| never had a Confederate flag, and never
saw one. I never walked the streets of
Virginia City with a pistol in my hand or a
flag Of any kind. or the streets Of any city
with either. ! kept the Tahoe House in
Virginia City, aud kept it alone. About
Christmas Of 1868 \ man engagcdiu in the toy
business kept Il store under my house. He
placed large Christmas tree, covered with
dolls, drums, flags, flies, and other articles
belonging to q toy store, upon my balcony.
My boarders complained of the obstruction.
then requested the toy merchant to take
it away and put it upon his own premises.
He refused, and said he had Il right to put
Hunt, who was then acting rs my clerk.
and had been for some time, to come and
cut it down; which he did. S me of my
friends came ana told me that the crowd
outside misunderstood my motive in re-
moving the tree, and supposed it was
on account Of the flags which were upon
it. | at once stepped to the front Of the
balcony and explained the case to them :;
adding. to remove all doubt about it, any
gentleman among them who so desired had
my full permission to place flag upon my
house, and think some one did so. The
tov merchant also sent his clerk to raise a
tiag over my house, to which / objected, as
he had not treated me like a gentleman !;
hut he persisted, whereupon l asked the
loan of pockct-knife from Mr.. Walters,
and attempted to cut the rope, for which
act the toy man brought q suit against me,
which resulted in a verdict against him, and
being tried for the act Of aggression, was
fined $50.
Aud now few words l wish 10 submit
to the public about
THE MONEY,
it is alleged was given me by MIR. Critten-
den. | kept the Tahoe House thirteen
months. and after paying all my debts aud
SO, 900 on n house on A street, which |
furnished with my own money-eXceptt two
rooms furnished by Dir. Crittenden-I had
left over $4,000. The Tahoe House con-
| tanned thirty-scven rooms, thirty-one OF
whicn were rented. bringing in each night
| over fifty dollars. I invested in Savage
stock. which purchased for sums varying
| from 800 to 81 600 per foot. sold it in 1867
| for 5000 per toot-hariDg ten feet-and
purchased other stock; and made all the
money l ever had in the way and manner
above indicated.
| For the truth Of this l most respectfully
refer to Mr.. Ned Eyre and MIR. Bradford,
who were then my brokers, and also Mr..
Bui linz. Mr.. Eyre purchased and sold for
|
Savage, and in Ill these Transactions l made
money.
| MIR. RALSToN,
of the Bank of California, knows that Mr.
Crittenden never paid dollar for me on
any note or for any stock, and amy who
| doubt my statement can call upon these
gentlemen for information. ] am in no
way OF manner indebted to Mr.. Crittenden
| for anv of The money ever had or the little
| now possess. When Colonel Fair died
had never seen or known Mr.. Crittenden.
He sought me and found me, aud would
not let me 60. / married
MR.. SNYDER
| to avoid Mr.. Crittenden, and, rs his own
letters prove, he would not then leave me.
All the force and power of the San Fran
cisco bar were and are to-day my enemies,
because a brother lawyer had been killed
by me in a moment of uncOnsci0usnesS,
and, as my God knows, of responsibility
Every effort of my attorneys, made III my
behalf on trial, were treated as idle chat
tering, or ut least it appeared so to me, and
those who sought my blood drank of it to
their filI. If there is just God who rules
and directs the judgments of men, [ shall
live to satisfy the world that L have been,
TO say the least of it, greatly wronged.
There is one other matter to which wish
to refer.
IN THE SPRING OF 1862 :..
| leased and furnished house on Mission
street, In this city. IL was between 2d and
Sd streets. l purchased my furniture on
credit. ] kept boarding and lodging
house. The Legislature of the State were
in session here, having been driven out by
the flood at Sacramento. Among my ten
ants were Messrs, Wilcox, Pemberton,
Tompkins, and others, members of the Le-
gislature. After the Legislature adjourned
i had a vacant house, and had not yet paid
for my furniture. / was obliged to seek
aid, and as my husband, Col. Fair, was a
prominent Mason when alive, l made
APPLICATION TO THE MASONIC ORDER
for assistance. Walter Tompkins conveyed
the application to MIR. Laidley, and he TO
the proper authority. In response to my
application committee composed OF Alex
ander G. Abel and two others called on me
and were shown through my house and saw
INV poverty and acknowledged it. My re-
lief was embraced in the following Ian
yuage, addressed to me by one of that COM
1nittee "Well, Mrs. Fair, woman wit !
such pretty face ought to be able to sup
port herself without applying to the Ma
sons" ...t1 q Az
When on my trial / was allowed to 60
with George Knox, Judge Quint accompa-
inying, to see Mr.. Abel for The purpose of
his identifying me US the party he had called
upon. But he refused to see me. 4. g. A. !.
! Of the Thousand and one things charged
to me and my dishOnOr since my conviction,
. can only add they are pure inventions,
and all false. I desire that the newspapers
will leave me alone. 1 ask the charity of
their silence. Let me settle my troubles
with the legal tribunals where I now am,
and where expect to find exact justice.
"A~ =. LAURA D. FAIR.