St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-17
MACKErS DEFENSE.
Judge Mackey Gives an Account of Mrs.
Witherbee's Troubles and Denies
ALI the Charges.
The Scandalous Reports Denounced and
Documentary Proof of Her Good
Character Presented.
The Judge Is Pretty Good Fighter
Himself, and He Roundly Berates
The Elgin Cobbler.

MS statement concerning the charges
which have been made against himself
and Mrs. Witherbee. In proof of the
following statements the judge pre-
scented documents. He spoke us fol-
lows:
First, as TO Mrs. Witherbee'S mar
riage. Mrs. Witherbee was married to
her husband, a. s. Witherbee, at Wash
mgton, ID. c., Feb. "a. 1856, by her
maiden name. which was that of her
adopted mother, Marie A. Dunlap, as
shown by the marriage certificate eX-
hibited.
Mr.. Witherbee was designated as a
bookseller and stationer. He repre-
scented himself prior TO the marriage as
member of the leading firm of Bren-
tanno II Co., of New York and Wash
ington, and in receipt of 5000 per year.
Three weeks after the marriage Mrs.
Witherbee discovered that he was a
clerk with a salary of SIS per month.
With her funds, amounting TO $1,000, he
secured partnership i'll the Washington
branch.
They lived together until Aug. Il,
1856 when they separated upon her re-
fuSal To pay notes of his TO the amount
OF several thousand dollars. At that
separation she charged him with crimi-
nal intimacy with young lady of high
social position in Washington. His re-
peated acts of cruel and brutal treat
ment made the separation inevitable,
had they not mutually agreed to Sepa-
rate.
Thirteen days after that separation
she wrote him from New York. demand
ing that he should forward money for
her maintenance. This was done in
order TO lay the foundation for divorce
on the ground of nOn-SuppOrt. Wlther-
bee replied to that letter. declining to
forward funds, but making no imputa-
ton upon the character of his wife.
The following is his reply, as shown in
his own handwriting:
Washington, ID. c., Sept. s, 1885,
Yours of Aug. Goth just to hand, it
having been forwarded to Chicago and
remalled from that point to me here.
The things of which you write and
which you call yours will for the pres
ent remain as they are. Under existing
circumstances cannot admit your right
to anything beyond what your personal
comfort Immediately demands, such as,
for instance, your furS, the receipt of
which l cheerfully enclose. The reason
why your request for money must be
UNDECIDED cannot fail to be obvious to
you. As long as you bear my name
as TO these things.
ALFRED S. WITHERBEE.
Seven days after the receipt of that
letter she commenced proceedings to
recover from Witherbee her personal
property which he had seized, consist
ing of silverware, furniture, etc, valued
at $1,000. He thereupon published a
card in the National Republican at
Washington notifying the public that
he would pay none of her debts con-
tracted in his name, as she had left his
bed and board without just cause. To
that notice she replied in a card in the
same paper Sept. TO- in which she stated
that the separation was by mutual con-
sent, and that if his name was a source
of credit her funds had made it so. This
was never cOntradicted. The day be-
fore she published that card Witherbee
invited her to return to his home, where
he resided with his highly respectable
mother and sisters. In that letter, re-
ferrlng to the articles in question, he
wrote as follows:
''lf you wish to use them you can re-
turn where they are and you will always
be treated kindly by every one, as you
nave been in the past. 1t was never
my wish that you should leave, as you
KNOW"
These unquestionable facts fully re-
fute the charge that Witherbee had cast
off his wife for her infidelity, discovered,
as alleged: by him in Chicago during
her visit West in July, 1856.
THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE
of the defamatOry attack recently insti-
tuted against his wife by Witherbee is
that in August, 1887, she applied to him
tn join her in executing deeds for the
sale or mortgage of her separate real
estate. To that application, made
through me as her counsel. he sent the
following reply:
''BrentannO & Co., 1015 Pennsylvania
avenue, Washington, d. G., Aug. 81,
1SS7-Sir: Replying to yours of the
24th inst, just to hand, wish to say that
if can render any service or aid to Mrs.
Witherbee in the way that you suggest,
will do so willingly. and not through
any mlsapprehension from the allusion
you felt 1T necessary to make i'm the
same letter. | will do it for her sake
alone, but it must be direct and through
her. do not recognize you in the mat
ter at all. Whatever may be my opin-
ion as to the course that she has thought
proper to take and the irretrieyable
wrong she has done me, do not harbor
snfflclent resentment against her to
deny her favor. especially when it
costs me nothing to do it, as is the case
in this instance. Mrs. Witherbee is
misinfOrmed regarding any sale on nv
part of real estate, lately or within the
past two years. Upon receipt of a writ
ten request from Mrs. W. for my sigma
ture to the deed of conveyance, as well
as the conditional release you speak of,
/ will forward same without delay. l
leave Washington this afternoon to be
absent from home perhaps week. By
the time you get this to her and she re-
niles | will he hack again
"a. S. WITHERBEE."
Mrs. Witherbee had rendered him
release from all liability for support on
condition of his signing such deeds. He
addressed her letter on Sept. 81, 1887,
beginning with the pet name ''Nettie,''
In which he declined to sign the deed
forwarded to him ON the ground that |
had drawn 1t up, but says in such letter:
You will find that | would otherwise
be only too glad to accommodate you in
this matter, and should the occasion
ever arise in the near or distant future
to render you service / assure you
that you will find me Just"
Soon after this refusal Mrs. Wither-
bee notified parties who had presented
bills against her for necessary clothing.
etc, that they must forward them to
her husband, as he must maintain her.
having refused to sign the deeds to en-
able her to dispose of her own separate
property. Such bills were sent to
Witherbee to the amount of 5000. He
refused to pay them, and to justify his
conduct and save his credit he maligned
the character of his wife.
exhibit one of the bills from Lord &
Taylor, of New York, with their letter
TO Mrs. Witherbee, of Nov. 30, 1887,
stating that Witherbee had refused to
pay it.
Mr.. Witherbee has also ascertained
through letters written by his wife TO
parties in Washington and to him di-
rectly, certain attorney in Bismarck.
that she was about to commence pro-
nnnlinnc hnrn L.