The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-03-25
THE SCANDAL.
Continuation of Bessie Turner's Cross
Examination

and the Jurors carry IN tnelr seats. pooo
Turner resumed her place on the STAND, ahu
her ross-examination continued, as follows:
When Mr.. Titon took me to the room up
STAIRS after leaving the parlor, [ was there
| some time until nearly dark, L think-aooot
two or three hours. | could not say whether IL
was three or four hours, but it was a long time;
The witness was further pressed for fixed
time. She looked at the clerk in the court
room and smiled at every repetition OF the
| question, but she reiterated her expression that
| it was about two or three hours She then
Continued:
He did not tell me that Mrs Tilton had con-
fessed to him her adultery with Mr.. Beecher
| If said so before the committee, it mnst nave
been through seeing it in the papers, and
must have been mistaken. have talked about
| the case since 1 was here yesterday. No per-
son suggested to me how to explain my having
| stated to the committee that Mrs. Titon had
casion when Mr. Tilton called for Mrs. Tilton
| at Mrs MOrses. L was on the stairs, and saw
| Mr.. Tlton partially kneeling. One knee was
| on the floor and tho other was partly raised III
l was man, could show you the position he
| was in. could not distinguish any words he
was saying, but could see both of them: |
| nigh. have heard what he said If he had
| spoken louder. l remember speaking to the
| committee about this, but 1 do not recollect
| what told them.
The witness was asked if she stated before
| the committee that Tllton vowed he loved her
| and asked her 10 come back to his house, to
| which she replied:
may have said this, but 1 do not recollect
| [ talked so fast when was before the commit
| tee, may have got things mixed up. L can
| not tell from memory what said to them, but
| all | eau say is that was trying to tell the
| truth on that occasion. Mrs. Morse was on the
| stairs, two or thee steps above me. Mr.. Tlton
| then came out of the parlor with Mrs. Tlton
| on his arm, and he looked up and said, Good
| evening, grandma" and she said, "I'll grand
ma you. YOU internal scoundrel; you perfdious
wretch, IN publish you, from rom, Dan to Beer.
to be excited, grandma" and she replied, I'll
| excite you, you scoundrel." He then went
away with Mrs Tilton, and shortly after arriv.
ing there Mrs. Tilton retired to bed. was in
| the room with her about an hour. After she re-
| tired Mr.. Tilton repeated his conversation, and
| said Paul was not his child. He never spoke
i to me of her having confessed to him her adul
terry with Mr. Beecher On my leaving the room,
after this conversation went to Mrs Tilton's
| bedroom. The room in which Mr. TiltOn
l locked his wife was the front bedroom. 1 could
not say if they always slept in this room. 1
| could not say if it was on more than the three
/ occasions have mentioned that be locked her
in this room. / am sure the folding doors
locked. and were locked on these occasions. L
think Mrs. Tilton went to New Brunswick in
| November previous to this. On her return she
brought Florence with her. l told Mr.. Tilton
he should treat his wife kindly, as she was
| always crying, and he replied that she was
weeping for her sins with Mr.. Beecher.
1t was on Friday evening, the Both of Decem-
l Der, that L saw him in Mr.. Tilton's room talk
| ing to Mrs. Tilton. She was half reclining on
the pillows. do not remember what was said.
In January or February went to school. Mrs.
Tilton spoke to me about it after the retraction
| was signed. 1t seems to me it was on the 10th
| or 18th of the month. Mr. Tiltou also spoke
Of it, saying that he and Elizabeth were going
i to do something nice for me; they were going
to send me to school at Steubenylle, and he
said he knew the principal of this school.
The attention of the witness was drawn to
her testimony before the committee. 1t was
read to her, but she could not recollect any
| thing about her testimony on that point. The
| witness reconsidered:
| L knew Miss Vause at the school while L
| was there. do not remember her saying that
| she was going to West Brooklyn. l recollect
| her saying she was coming East. l may have
said that if she came to Brooklyn, she ought to
| visit Mr.. and Mrs. Tilton. L may have told
| her that they were kind people, and that was
very much attached to them. l may have
| stated that she would bs delighted with Mr..
| Tilton, he was such perfect gentleman.
| do not remember the year when 1 first
| wrote the letter at the dctation of Mr.. T. 1t
| was before l wrote the letter for Mrs. L. |
| told Mr.. T. about Mrs. T having told Mrs.
Morse about his charges against her and that
| Mrs Morse had promised me something nice if
| [ would go around and tell Mr.. Beecher. Mr..
| I. asked me to sign my name to this letter and
| l did. made certain statements to him about
Mrs. Morse, and he wanted me to put on paper
| what he dictated. 1t was with regard to the
| conversation 1 had with him. 1 cannot recol-
| lect if Mr.. Z. dictated what had told him
| about Mrs. Morse correctly. l cannot remem-
Der if he made any mistake. do not remem-
bor any mistakes or errors that he made 10 the
l repetition of it. If he had made any error or
| told falsehood l do not think would have
put it down. He dictated so rapidly that 1 did
| not take time TO observe. 1t seems to me he
dictated faster than 1 could write and he had to
A. I.,,Ir s,1I L..
was debating too fast. wrote all that he die
| tated.
Mr.. Fullerton read a sentence from the letter
| of Jan. 10th, 1871, stating that Mrs. Morse had
repeatedly offered Bessie presents to tell stories
| about Mr. T. and that the writer had been
persuaded that the kind attentions shown by
| Mr.. L. to her were untrue.
The witness stated that this was not true.
| Mr.. Fullerton read that the writer did not
| want to be used by Mrs. Morse to bring trouble
| on her two best friends, Mrs. T. and her hus
| band, and she was asked if that was true.
| The witness replied, "That was Mr. Us dieta-
| ton and my writing"
The conversation about my going to school
the 18th of February. The conversation was
had about my going on Sunday, ami went
on the succeeding Thursday or Friday. At
the time of signing this letter did not think
anything about the truth of these statements.
The witness was shown an erasure on the let
ter, but could not tell what was written there.
She did not know how the erasure came to be
made.
The witness continued: wrote another let
ter for Mrs. T. 1 wrote copy of it prepared
by Mr. T. She handed me the copy of it, 1t
was in her handwriting. She was standing
| by the chair where was sitting when she gave
| it to me. (Handed the letter. This is in my
| handwriting The letter was dated Jan. 18th.
1871, stating that the story that Mr.. 7. had
| carried me in his arms to his bed screaming
| was wicked lie. 1t was signed Bessie. The
| witness continued: This was the first time L
| saw the story in this form. He never carried
| me to his bed screaming. He had attempted
| to violate my person because Mrs. T. had told
| me SO The witness was asked on what occas-
| ion, and this question gave rise to long ar
| gument between the counsel. do not think
| could truthfully say of my own view that Mr..
| T. had attempted to violate my person. When
| l wrote the letter thought he had made the
| attempt, but do not remember if this was my
| view. 1t is true that he carried me from my
| bed to his OWE but not screaming. was not
| awake when he lifted nae, nor did 1 waken
| until was in his room and he was standing
| over me. signed this paper because loved
Mrs I. and my signature would get Mr.. L.
1 did it to please Mrs. 4. who had asked me
1t was now half past one o'clock and the
court took the usual recess
After recess Bessie Turner resumed the stand
and Mr.. Fullerton announced that he was
through The redirect examination was then
begun by Mr.. Porter and the witness replied:
was teaching school at Beaver. This was all
Mr.. Porter had to ask. To Mr.. Fullerton the
witness said she had to leave there because of
notoriety she had obtained in connection with
the scandal. Here Bessie Turner was allowed
to leave the stsnd.
George .. Perkins
swore he saw Beecher about the first of June,
1873, in train on the Boston & Albany road.
Thinks it was the 4th of June. On cross-ex
animation he said that his attention was not
called to this fact till after he read the opening
for plaintiff.
George 3. Sedgewich
testified to seeing Mr.. T. marching in the Ros-
sci procession between Mrs. Woodruff and
Miss Cafn. He was carrying banner.
Cecil G. Higgins gave similar testimony.
John SOuthwick
was next called He said: am the partner of
jackson S. Schultz and knew Beecher and Til
ton. He then proceeded to state his connection
with the Golden Age enterprise, and his state
meDt was substantially the same as that of Mr..
Schultz Witness continued | remember the
publication of the Woodruff scandal. l met
T. after it and he said he could not deny it.. 1t
was a wheel within wheel. l asked him if
there was a truth in the story that Beecber had
committed adultery with his wife and he said
there was not word of truth in it. He also
denied that Moulton had put pistol to Beech
baad saw IT IN the 1St of ,Januarv