Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-05-23
MRS. TILTON AND PLYMOUTH.
Letter Demanding that the Com
mittee Take Immediate Action
Why It Is said there Is Reason
for some Months Further
Delay.

|
| toms confession did not cause so much talk
among the members of Plymouth church
| as the latest phases of the scandal have done.
| 1t was known on Wednesday to few mem
| bers of the church that the question of retain
| ing Mrs. Tlton and Morse on the church rolls
must be decided one way or the other at
| once. By the rules of Plymouth church moth
request should be laid before the examining
committee by one or more members of the
| church. Such formality was complied with
! last Tuesday evening. A letter, signed by
| one Of the oldest members of the church, was
| placed in the hands of the examining COM
| mittee, and action must be taken
| upon 1t. The letter begins by saying that
| the writer is a member Of Plymouth church,
on whose roll are Mrs. Tilton' 5 ard Mrs.
Morse's names. 1t then quotes Mrs. Morse
as saying that she would never darken Ply
| mouth church's doors again, and refers to
Mrs. Tilton's shocking charge against their
| pastor. In conclusion, the writer asked that
| the examining committee investigate the
| matter, and report to the church whether or
| not the names of the two shall be longer kept
on the roll. Yesterday the news had spread
among the members that the church rule had
| been complied with, and the general I'M
| preston is that the names would be stricken
| off with as little publicity as possible. Mrs.
| Tilton is known to have partaken of the COM
| twice within the last twelve months. She
| was present at the May communion of 1877,
although sitting In a remote corner among
| strangers, where few who saw her recognized
her. She attended again last fall, but has
not been in the church since her first inter-
view with Theodore Tilton IN last Octo-
Der. The letter Is now In the hands OF
| MIR. S. V. White, who says that he shall not
act hastily in this matter. There is no hur-
| ry at all about it, and the summer vacation is
| coming on Other members of the commit.
| tee are reported to be in favor of delay, and
| the feeling Is also so widely shared among
| the members that it was apparent yesterday
| that there was some special cause for it. DR..
| H. B. White said that the committee would
not hurry over the matter. There was no &C.
sasion to do so. The church rules have been
| complied with, however, and action must be
| taken at some time. Lawyer Thomas G..
Shearman is the only conspicuous member Of
the church who appeared not to have heard
| now" he said. "But no one could have sent
the letter to the committee with more appro-
priateness than the person you say has done
so. If it is true, then the committee will
have to act The reason why the brethren
desire delay is believed to be an astounding
piece of information that they have lately re
ceived, and delay of four or
five months may result in giving the
committee, Plymouth church, and the
outside world certain proofs of Mrs. Tilton' 5
condition when she wrote the confession.
This is what the examining committee will
want for now They believe that within the
next three months Mrs. Tilton's resumption
of marital relations with Theodore Hilton Will
be made manifest, and that the infant will
be the pledge of restored love between the
two. Plymouth church people were amazed
when they first heard Of this from what they
consider good sources. Some of them pre-
tend not to believe it, but these are few.
Lawyer Shearman leaned on the mantel-
piece In his elegant library, and looked out
over New York harbor for several minutes
before answering question put to him on
the subject. Finally he said that he did not
know anything about it.
." But you have heard of It'll"
"Well, yes, have heard that such was
Mrs. Tilton's condition" More than that
Mr.. Shearman refused to say.
DR.. White admitted that he had heard OF
it, but said that he was hardly prepared to
believe it. Time would tell. A matron of
Plymouth church, who has seen Mrs. Iilton
recently, said yesterday that the report was
true, she was confident. 1t TRANSFERRED yes
terday that Mr.. Shearman and the examin-
ing committee knew when Tilton first visited
his wife at the Madison street house, and the
number of visits that he has since made, and
the length of time that he stopped in the
house. About a year ago Mrs. Tilton saw
Theodore in the street. He did not see her.
She WIS so agitated that she could not finish
her music lessons of that day, and she said
that she felt that all his old power over her
had been restored. Lawyer Sherman heard
of this. and from that minute was fearful OF
Mrs. Titon. She did not see her husband
again until October last. One evening IN
that month he was seen by nelghbor, who
knew him, to go to the house. He stayed
there for two hours. A few days later Mrs:
Triton called upon the neighbor, and said
that Theodore had been at the house.
How was it that he came?" the nelghbor
asked.
Mother sent for him. was the reply.
''He saw mother first, and then went up
stairs to look at CAROLS room, which is a
curiosity. Then he came down stairs and
saw me in the parlor. He only wanted to see
me on business, and that was all he talked
about"
Mr.. Shearran heard of this visit, and felt
greatly troubled about it. He said that Iheo-
dore was resumlng his power over Elizabeth,
and that he had some purpose IN dong so.
He determined to learn more. Some time
after Mr.. Shearman learned by the means
employed that Mr.. Triton had again visited
the house and spent some hours there.
These visits were repeated at intervals dur
ing the winter and on several occasions Mr..
Sherman learned that Tilton had remained
at the house all night. The dates of many
Of the visits he keeps among other important
documents bearing on the case. He knew
that Iilton's influence over his wife had been
regained, and fully believed that marital re-
report, therefore, the examining committee
will probably wait until fall before they take
up the subject OF dropping Mrs. Tilton's
name from the church rolls.