The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-12-15
THE WHARTON TRIAL.
REVIEW OF THE EXTRAORDINARY
CASE IN ALL IT'S BEARINGS.
Forthcoming Evidence-stronS Ctrcum-
stantIal Case for the Prosecution
Origin of the Snspicion-G Gensrai
Ketchum,s Business Hnbits-The Lady
yVunesses

stantInI Case for the Prosecution
Origin of the Suspicion - General
Ketchum,s Business Hnbits-The Lady
Witnesses.
The trial of Mrs. Wharton, now In progress
at Annapolis, for the murder OF General hetch'
Inn. end the attempted murder OF eugene
Van Ness. at Baltimore, last summer, Is ty 1ar
the most interesting of any of The great mur-
der trials of the past few years. Its interest
ia due not only to the high social position OF
the defendant and the atrocity OF The crimes
laid to her charge, but to the peculiarly con-
flicting character of the circumstances at
tending the death of her alleged victim. The
spsclal correspondent OF tn. New York Times
gives the following review Of the crcum-
stances of the case as far as they have been
elected:
ANNAPOLIS, Nd, December 10.
AS the trial progresses the inaccuracies OF
previously published statements regarding
the nature oil the testimony become more anu
more apparent The ulh IL, that the Ketch-
nm side of the story, e rather the alleged Cir
cumstances on whi6l the prosecution now
mainly relies, have never been correctly
printed. The Baltimore papers, printed at
the scene OF the tragedy, nave, with eXcusa-
Bile pariality for the sdy prisoner, espoused
the cause of the defence, and the writer's VINO
have discussed the sutiect before the public
have generally taken tn, ir cue from them. A
close Investigation OF The facts alleged Dy the
prosecution, however, SHOWS a remarkably
strong case OF clrcumslanllai e'lueace asains'
the accused.
The testimony thus fal presented Is well
enough understood 10 81 ow that General
Ketchum died In Mis-. Whar .on'5 house oy pol
son. and that there was mercenary motlfe
alleged to exist on her part-the 1acl t0at ne
held her note, past due, fol $500, with three
months accrued interest-,o warrant the sus-
picion that she was the oisoner. 1t Is not
generally known, however. but will In all pro-
liability very soon be deve Ioped In the testi-
mony, that she not only claimed that the note
had been paid, but demant ed the return 10
her of four thousand dollars Of tve-twenty
bonds which she alleges she had given to Cen
eral Ketchum. either to be transferred iDio
tep-forties or for safekeepiDg. She made this
demand OF Charles Ketchum, the deceased's
eldest son, and it resulted in an interview be-
tween her and Paymaster-G eneral Biice, whose
wife Is General Ketchums sister. Charles
Ketcbum administered upon his fathers eStatei
hence the demand on him by Mrs. Wharton.
Ttere is o Younger son, James, who Is not yet
Of Age When Charles tGok possession oil
his fathers effects he very fortunately
had witness present In The person OF Gene
raj John II. Eaton. 1t seems That General
Brice advised him 10 this precaution, and re-
ulested General Eaton to act In this capacity.
the reason for this fortunate foresight Is
evident in the fact that IT was not known
whe. her the General leit will, aud 1t was 10
guard agaist the possibility OF charges, such
as Mrs. Wharton's friends now make, that
General Eaton acted the part of friendship To-
ward the son of his old comrade. Mrs. Whar-
ton charges are that Charles kelChum has
,h,t Nu.x ban6S I'm hS D0SSeHStOn.
and that he has secretedi them from her. She
SAYS 1t is as lust and as reasonable for her to
charge against The Ketchums The crime-ifit:
I were true It would be crlme-of conspiring:
to defraud her out of the bonds, by chargingi
her with the generals murder, as iC is f0ri
them 10 assert that she poisoned MIN 10 get
rid OF paying the $500 note. .,at
The interview between her and General
Brice was the first lntimalion that the friends
of the deceased had OF her Claim against his
estate They had carefully collected his eli
fects. and found them to correspond exactly
Ia. pFeyious TO his death. Both General Br!ce
and General Eaton, who knew him intimately,
represented him 10 have been Q man Of Won
derful precision In his business affairs. He
was accustomed each night to make mem
orandum OF his expenditures during the pre-
cedlng day. which was 80 minute as 70 lhciude
even The amount or number OF pennies he had
given w iho Soio1e>. eccsSL S-..,.r, 4, -
corners" At the END OF eacn monln IL was
his habit to add the amounts OF tnese meino-
raudums together. ana tnereoy oeternine Nis
expenses. In act, he was remarkaoe man
in this respect. and subjected @nimseH 10
a6eat amount of labor by keeping without M
Permission this very exact diary OF MS
finances. Whenever he collected interest, of
made any change whatever IN me- as
sets, he made cut "a new scneouies
He noted on nus scneaas snS ,aynnn ond
notes due 10 Rim, OF tne ilteIest tltieon, aue
then made OUT anotner, ms snow,ns Lne f faIu T,na %
the future payments. Ing scl,sus.e se,, ~ 'uuS aS
f2h is breL ana sncclnct l1r ms o.'e the woe woe
emlnenliy an III eas4 capea, sATps l,chsSe .uU
estate tnat he nau recfn.y pu,on5MnGbI, ~ M'sb, 4
washington. mhen " 1s psoegas ,aS St.s - e;r;ti
WIZ snow tnas ne ne sno ona asssSer With the
70 Lle am9ups 10 " sS.os SSarIo. ssr SSaoo n, and
nobe 0t MS sun, Sna,o s.n s,cdo ~ end tbet rho
mrs WhsrUas LUZ iUt u,.S SAv, Sa,as NJ tna lime
nEIesI aue tueleon, ms'n va ~, Viii scrnnninns
OF payment are carrlea ous Wata I@U.upufSI' @ f'
corrscness a,s arsnas emu. Say S.s1'na sIT ,hss nne
waru sae ~ hi Sahsis ~ nrove If that
manner OF MS business nao,'s " proas pS. ,inn @
ne W0ulu aoe nase a'SIp'oLi ,iH su II hi,o yI;,h
Mrs. Mnart9u aneses sue piaoa ~ nt tha
out giving ner reoPs bonGS az bso
am3unI auu d ID ,hat Irou, theIr t~o,uI
slcn leceip'' ~ ohars,sr a' thsv think he wonld
Seoge eog Saoi;nsS y. w., accsn,jng snch a 1rnst