The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1877-06-08
Il Handsome Sfep-Mother.
GOETHE'S THEORY OF THE SEXUAL AFFIN-
ITIEs- AN EARLY MARRIAGE AND \
DREADFUL DTSAPPOiNTMENT.


ITIEs- AN EARLY MARRIAGE AND \
DREADFUL DTSAPPOiNTMENT.
Tn the spring of 1899, the Vessels family
was the richest and most respectable in
Staunton, Virginia. 1t consisted of Mrs.
Acelia Vessels, the second wife of the la
menied Jackson Vessels who had made u
fortune in the grain trade, when there were
but dozen houses in Stauntou. When
he died in 1887, he left an estate wOith
$500, 900 1t is said that the deceased had
made will, constituting his three sons-in
law, Arnold Baker, Edward Jeff,ies and
Barnard Buikhalter. husbands of his three
daughters, Auna, Emma and Jenny, his
sole heirs, leaving his second wife, Adelia
only few hundred dollars a year. The
document, however. could not be fouud
among Mr.. Vessels papers, and The no.
tary public, John Andrews, vino was re-
ported TO have drawn up the viii. having
died n few days after Mr.. Vessels death,
theIe was no possibility of aScertaining
whether such paper was in existence or
not. There was. as a matter of course
considerable hard feeling between the step
children aud their husbands on The one
hand and Mrs. AdelIa Vessels on the o-her.
Mis-. W eSSeiS was a handsome, amiable
I woman. not more than thirty years of age.
She was strict member of the Methodist
Church, and generally beloved. In her
H quarters WITH lfeI SIel lt-CiklNiien. DuDtic sen
! tImen entirely on her side. Her
sweetness Of temper was almost prOverbial,
/ and The sp,teful comments which her step
/ children made upon her weie most uafa-
voiabiy received by the people of Staunton.
J On tIe 2nd of September. 1899, young
! lawyer, Charles Fre,iericks. a native IF
= Baltimore. came tOsettle in StauutOn. He
/ had a letter of introduction 10 Mrs. Adelia
/ Vessels, and ON the day after his arrival
{ in tho ,,llrp lta caIlaH har Z ia
( handsome young man instantly fell in love
! With her. If Gocthe's theory Of the sexual
alfintiPs was verified, it was between these
! two persons, who, five minutes after being
/ brought face 30 face, had become declared
/ lovers.
The mystic bonds of passion captivated
/ both him and her. alihnugh she was at
| least eight years Older than he.
! Next day The people of Staunton were
startled by the utterly unexpected news
/ that Mr.. Charles Fredericks had married
! the Widow Vessels.
The latter was evidently supremely
happy.
| now she said 10 many persons. "My
! husband is The best of men,
Alas Alas -Four days later, during the
! temporary absence of her husband, she
/ was found dead in bed.
| There WAS at that time bu' one physician
! in Staunton. He was an ignorant old man.
| and said tlat Mrs. Fredericls died OF heart
! disease. Upon his certificate the coroner
| of the comfy issued Il burial permit
The remains were about To- be removed
when the young husband OF the deceased
! arrived. He had not heard of her death
! until he had reached Staunton.
| Upon seeing her. dead. stiff and stark,
| he stood for a minute as if spell bound.
| Then he threw himself upon the corpse.
/ wildly lamenting, and covering her cold
| cheeks with the burning kisses Of despair
/ ing love.
His burst of passion almost awed the
persons present in the room.
When he arose at last, he passed his
hand over his forehead. and asked, as if
! ddzed ''Who killed her - The Coron-
| er replied: CDR Barnes says she died of
I heart dis ase.' ''IIe mus; be fool -
/ cried the young ~idower, Indignantly
/ Look al tlis -
He pointed at several black spots upon
! The neck uf his dead wife.
The Coroner aud the other people in the
| room looked a. the spots. Her month was
! opened, and her tongue was found to be
almost black.
Heart disease said the Coroner scorn-
| fully. to the old doctor. "Death 10y sulfo-
cation, | suppose" The Coroner's jury
! gave The following verdict
| Fredericlls came 10 her death by being
siranglcd 10y some person unknown" No
| more heartrending scene could 6e imagined
! than when the young widower was gently
removed from the remains of her whom he
had loved So we'll. ''It will kin him. said
! ihe people of Siaunton as ON the next day
! lie stood at his wife's gaping grave. But
| who killed her? All efforts were made to
ascertain who had been wi.h Mrs. Freder-
! icks while hei husband was away from
| SiauntOu. Not the slightest clue, however.
WAS elected. The husbands of the three
! stcp-dauehters claimed the estate left by
! her, and The courts awaFded it to them.
J The young widuwei left Staunton few
weeks later. In 1912 quarrel broke ont
! among the three sisters, and in their fury
one OF Them charged EJ ward jeff les with
| having strangieG her step mother This
statement created profound sensation in
! Staunton. and the three daughters and
! their husbands were arrested. FrcderickS
/ then reappeaied in Stanton. He followed
/ up the case in every particular, and, hav-
, ing promised the woman perfect immunity
! from criminal prosecution, learned that
! jeff les bad gone to Mrs Frcdericlls' house
when lie knew her to be in bed that he
had made dislonorabe proposals to her
which she Indignantly rejected aud that
! he thereup0n encircled her neck with his
j hands aud choked her till she was dead.
( Jcffiies did not deny his crime, but he
meauly attributed it to his amnrous passion
for his wife's step mother. The straugest
I thing of the whole affair was that Mrs JEFF
: fries testified, under oath, that her hus-
band had always been secretly in love with
/ her step mother. As matter IF course. the
/ wife's evidence was not con,radicted. and
Edward Jeffiies was found guilty of muir
der in the first degree. lie was hanged on
January >, iS46.
PETER B. BINGHAM. the millionaire who
died in Boston last week, was 4 most re
markable man. When seventeen years Of
age he went to Boston, and when near
starving. got employ ment an oyster
opener, in the cellar of Concert Hall. for
which labor he was paid eight dollars per
month. He was finally promoted to a