The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1875-03-16
TILToNs roRMENToRs.
THE IMPROPER PROPOSALS THEORY


PAsToR-wEsI's NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. HER
USTRUsTwOETHY MEMORY A JoUEHAL
ISIS TEsTIMoNY-AN ALLEGORY-
New YORK. March 9.-The Brooklyn city
court room was comfortably filled this
morning, when Judge Nelson took ais seat
to continue the scandal trial. Mr.. Beecher
and his wife were absent, but Mrs. Tilion
was present for the first time since the de-
Tense opened. Mr.. Jeffreys, the sick juror,
was early in his place. Mr.. Hill, of the de-
tense, called Mr.. Geo. w. Lincoln az 4 wit
ness. He testihed; live in Fulton, ". Y.
In 1869 was the proprietor of the Beardsley
House at Winsted, Conn.,, and
remember Mr.. Tilton's coming there
on a lecturing tour. He asked me
for two rooms adjoining one another, which
were given hirl. l went TO Tilton's room
and raped. 1 was turning away when the
door opened and I saw Tilton with his coat,
hat and boots off, TheyOung lady was lying
on the bed, and appeared TO be- about %
wears Of age. When at the dinner table the
conduct OF Tilton and the lady appeared 10
be very familiar. Mr.. and Mrs. Beeoher
here carno into the courtroom and took seats
in front of the Plymouth gathering. The
witness was cross.examined by Fullerton.
This was in December, 1869. Mr. Tlton
threw the door of the room wide open, and
there was no apparent effort at concealment
on the part of either L attended
TiltOn's lecture and so did my wife.
In reply to juror the witness said: l went
to Tiiten's room about an hour after dinner.
The next witness was Albert f. Norton,
He testified: l live in New Britain, Conn.
j was contractor in Winsted, Conn.,, and
lived at the Beardsley House in December,
1869. In passing TiltOn's room on the morn
ing after the lecture / saw a lady partly
dressed in it. This LADY, attended the lee
ture with Tilton. 1 did not see any books
In the room. The witness was cross exam
med: l have never had any legal contro-
versy or been charged with any violation OF
law. I never compromised any legal claim
against me.
SAMUEL Z. BELCHER,
the witness who followed, testified: 1
have lived at ll3 North Oxford street since
1860 and have resided in Brooklyn for
twenty-three years am president of the
Jefferson Fire Insurance Company, and was
formerly its secretary. have been a men,
Der OF Plymouth Church since 1853, and
have known Tilton about twenty years. we
lived in adjoining houses for two or three
wears. Mr.. Tilt0n asked me 20 ac5 an
arbitrator IN the Bowen difficulty, bat | de-
clined. L offered to serve him in that way IT
he could get no other person. met 'riiton
on Fulton ferry boat after the publication
of the Woodruff scandal, aud I spoke
90 him about IT. He replied
TO me that there was nothing in il. We
then walked up to Myrtle and Fulton ave-
nues. We had friendly conversation on
the way about the election. Before 1 left
him said he ought TO know what his best
friends said about it, and told him that II
he had q spark OF manhood in him he should
not allow his wife to lie under the charges
make against her in that paper. tie asked
me TO accompany him to his house, which
L did. When l got there he produced q
roll of papers which he showed
me, and he said that unless a settlement
was made tor his broken contracts
this would be published. he read portion
of 1t TO me but 1 DO not remember TO what it
related. recOllect a letter from Tilton to
Bowen, however. In it Tilton told me that
paper, which was in type, was sent to
Bowen with a threat that unless he settled
with him the TiltOn matter would be put in
type. He then read to me- what purpOrted
20 DO a rstractiOn from Bowen, but do not
remember the substance. / recollect some
thing IN 1t about Bowen's retrac,ing
HIS CHARGES AGAINST BEECHER.
Mr, Tilton showed me writings which set
forth that Beecher, in Tilton's absence, had
solicited his (1ilton's) wife to become all that
wife should be to him. 1 asked If that was
his wife's writing and he said no, that it was
copy. asked him how his wife treated
Beecher's propositions, and he said that she
repealed them. He said that he charged
Beecher with this act and Beecher said il
was false and the woman must be crazy.
He said that Beecber had slipped out and
when he (Tilton) got him he
found Beecher had obtained retrac
tiOn of the story. Those papers were
not in my hands, nor was / allowed to ex-
anime them. Tilton- read to me what
appeared 10 be Airs. Titon's rstraosion
given TO Beecher. He stared that not with
standing the giving of the retTacti0n 10
Beecher, his wife retracted the retraction,
and that Beecher had confessed and spoil
rrf~rn 49, Al.~.e
retain possession of the letters of Tetrsction
and apology. | recollect hearing TiltOn
say that M0ulton and himself
thought Beecher had acted very
meanly in obtaining this letter of retraction.
1 asked Tilton what sort OF women Wood J.
hull and Clafiin were, and ne spoke well OF
them and did not say anything against
them. told Tilton many people thought
ne was the real author of the charges, and
he replied that people could see in the paper
that she was the party who first told bin. /
asked him ii Beecher ever had sexual inter
course with bis wife. He replied with up
lifted hand, "nO, no, my wife is
PURE AS AN ANGEL
from heaven" The witness was cross-ex-
amined by ] 1dge Fullerton. This was just
about two or three weeks after the publica-
ton Of the conversation. 1 was prompted
30 put the question by what L heard read
that night. do not remember whether he
ende2vored to impress upon me that his
vile was guiltless of the charge. put this
question because the public papers charged
adultry. nevr said that | would stand by
Beecher, guilty or not, andnever told Til
ton So l don't know that | ever told this
story as fully as tell it now. / told the
story of TiltOn's Gsnisls of the charge of
adultery OF his wife TO various parties. I
was not church officer then. but
was deacon OF the church afterward. !
have talked about and told different sections
oftbe story to persons met, but never told
them the whole Of it. L have repeated il.
substantially, think, first as told it here
to Mr.. Hill about q week ago. told the
first part of it few days after it occurred,
but to whom I can't remem Der. I told Dea-
con Hodges that Mr.. Beecher told me that