Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1876-03-03
The Plymouth Church Examining Com
mittee and Mr.. Bowen.

AN Associated Press dispatch of tn,
23d says very exciting and unlooked-fol
events had occurred at meeting of the
Plymouth Church Examining Committee
held at Assistant Pastor Halliday's house
in Brooklyn, on the evening of that day
at which Henry c.. Bowen appeared by
invitation, accompanied by his sons Ed
ward and Henry E., and DR.. Ward, pub
Usher of the Independent.
HENRY E. BowEN's VERSION.
| The following Is a summary of Mr.
| Henry E. Bowen's account OF the affair:
| On entering the room Mr.. Bowen was
astonished to find a company of forty OF
| fifty persons assembled, embracing the
members of the committee, the Chair
man of the Council in session, and others,
| among the number being Henry Ward
| Beecher, his sons Henry and William,
| Oliver johnson and Benjamin f. Tracey.
Mr.. Bowen being called upon for his
| statement, presented and read it. Previous
| to doing so, he expressed his surprise at
such large audience, and asked the rea-
son of their presence. He was told that
| the committee never objected to his bring
| ing his friends there; the idea was that
Mr.. Bowen had right to bring in any
! friend he cared to; the only objection
was to reporters that the company came
with the,committee' invitation, not Mr,
Beecher's. a IS
Mr.. Bowen replied that he had no OBJ
| lection, but the responsibility of publicity
must rest with them; he said he came
there to present his statement to the Elk
amining Committee and nobody else that
he should decline to give it to the press,
and if published it should be by the Ex-
amining Committee and not by him.
After finishing his statement and say
ing, in reply to question, that that was
all the facts he had to give that evening,
he started to leave, when one of the COM
mittee protested against his doing so, and
Mr. Sherman said he (Bowen) would not
be permitted to leave the room.
Mr.. Bowen stepped toward the door of
the front parlor, when Mr.. S. " White
jumped up and locked the door, took the
key and put it in his pocket, and as he
saw Mr. Bowen looking toward the door
of the other room, Mr.. White called out,
"Lock that other door," and several men
jumped toward it. Every one jumped to
his feet, but Mr. Bowen was too quick,
and got to the back parlor door just be-
fore several of the crowd got to it. His
son, Henry E., followed, rushed to the
door, and called for the press, thinking
that they were there. Here Mr. Henry G.
Bowen interposed energetically, thinking
there was going to be a row.
Mr.. Henry E. Bowen continued: My
father was in the hall, my brother and
DIR. Ward were in the parlor, and | got
on the stoop outside and called for the
press, and the Associated Press reporter
and another rushed up, and Mr.. Bowen
told them of the occurrence. Then one Of
Mr.. Bowen'a sons upbraided Mr.. White.
Mr.. Bowen also expressed himself very
strongly in regard to the treatment he re-
ceived."
MR.. WHITES VERSION.
Mr.. S. V. White was visited and his
version is substantially this:
Mr.. Bowen read a statement of fifty two
pages, in which he failed to give names
or dates. 1t referred to scandals of ten
or eleven years ago. After reading a few
pages he handed the paper to DR.. Ward.
Then Mr.. Bowen stepped toward the door,
and Mr.. White, desiring to prolong the
interview as much as possible, and
being seated near the door, turned the
kew, withdrew it from the lcck and put it
in his pocket Mr.. Bowen stepped back
several feet, and, surveying the situation,
saw a means of exit by a back door, and
he darted in that direction, upsetting chairs
and other articles of household furniture
in mis- flight, and escaped from the house.
" MIR. Edward Bowen then pointed to me,
and said: will fix you; you will pay
for this! Henry E. Bowen then ran to
the door, with disheveled hair flying wild
ly about and shouted, Gentlemen of the
press In response to his cries the re-
porters of the Associated Press and the
New York Times came up, and in re
Spouse to their inquiries Mr.. Henry E.
Bowen besought his brother not to make
a fool of himself, saying that had made
an ass of myself, and that he (Mr. E.
Bowen) couldn't better the matter by
shouting for members of the press"