Evening journal., 1889-11-23
A WOMAN'S VENGEANCE.
Tragic Death of Stephen Pettus
In New York. A,SssssG-s-...,.
SHOT BY HIS ALLEGED VICTIM.

Fatal Wounds Upon the Man Whom She
Says Ruined Her--The Deceased Was
Prominent Brooklyn Man.
NEW YoRK, Nov. %. Stephen Pettus,
secretary and treasurer of the Brooklyn /
Elevated railway, commission merchant and
member of the New York Cotton Exchange,
was shot and almost instantly killed shortly l
before 10 a. m. In front of No. 10 Fulton |
street, by Mrs Hannah r. Southworth, who |
fired lve bullets from 3S-caliber Smith &
Wesson revolver into his body. The par
ticulars Of the tragic affair are as follows
About . a. m Mr. Pettus left bis home, al
No. 70 Eighth avenue, Brooklyn, and went
TO the o6ice Of the Brooklyn Elevated rail- |
way, where be transacted some business re- |
lating 10 his position as m officer OF that
corporation He then started for the Office, |
at No. 81 Broad street. this city, whore the
firm Of Pollard, 2ettus a. Co. Garry on bust.
ness as commission merchants in the lines OF
tobacco and cotton. He walked down Full
ton street, Brooklyn, and went on board the
ferryboat that left the slip just before Vas
a. m.
Followed by His Nemesis.
His Nemesis in the person Of tall, willowy
blonde named Mrs Hannah b. southworth,
followed him down the street and then passed
into the "ladies' saloon Of the ferryboat.
She was fashionably dressed In a sealskin
sncque trimmed with fur, brown emhroid.
cred skirt aud a jaunty black hat, with q
dark veil covering her face. In her carr
were solitaire diamond pendants, and her left
hand was covered with tan suede glove, the
F.fl ..f tas
seal sacque. She attracted some attention
from the other female passengers on account
Of restlessness and manifest mental excite
ment.
The Deadly Assault.
When the ferryboat arrived at the New
| York slip at the foot of Fulton street at o;5e
o'clock MIR. Pettus was among the first TO
pass through the gates and out Of the ferry
house He took the sidewalk ON the south
| side of Fulton street and Mrs. Southworth
followed him. Just as Pettus reached the
| front of Benefits tea store No 10 Fulton
street, about fifty yards from the ferry
house, the pursuing woman came up TO him,
and, without speaking a word, drew re
volver from beneath her sacque and fired
point blank at the man, who was not more
than two feet in advance of her.
Four Fatal Wounds.
The weapon was self cooking affair, with
five chambers, and quick as thought the
woman emptied the other four chambers
into her victim. After the fourth shot Pet
tus turned partly around aud instinctively
threw back his left arm as il to protect him
self The first four bullets entered bis body,
one passing entirely through and smashing
his gold watch that was in his left vest
pocket Any one Of these shots, as was sub
a
have proven fatal The fifth bullet struck
his left arm just above the wrist. Pettus
after receiving the flfth shot ran into Ben
nett's tea store and fell in heap upon the
door Within few minutes he was dead
He never spoke from the time the first shot
was fired.
The Woman's Capture.
Mrs. Southworth did not make any effort
to escape. With the revolver still smoking
in her hand, she followed Pettus to the door
OF the store, and stood looking in. A passer-
by and eyewitness Of the shooting, whose
nane could not be ascertained, seized her
by the shoulders, holding her arms fast
at this juncture Officer William Goodwin
of the First precinct, whose post is at the
corner of South and Fulton Streets having
heard the shots, came running up, and Inn
mediateiy grasped the weapon from the
womanis hand. Not knowing that Pettus
was unconscious and in the last throes Of
death Officer Goodwin took the murderess
into the tea store In order 10 have her iden-
titled by the wounded man as the one who
had shot him. Pettus gasped three times
and was dead. The officer wheeled the
woman around, saying, "Come.n
Betrayed and Disgraced.
please don't use me roughly said Mrs
Southworth "You need not hold me- 1
am not going to run away. / have done
nothing TO be afraid Of. y She spoke quietly,
without any apparent nervous excitement
aud without any seeming realization of the
gravity Of the act which she had committed
"Ho has betrayed and disgraced me- He
has dishonored me and ruined the reputation
of my family, and have shot him. He de-
served all he got, and more
Committed to the Tombs.
. Mrs Southworth was committed 10 the
Tombs without bail She has been living
with her aged mother and her brother at
| No. S35 Lafayette avenue, Brooklyn. Her
brother, William B. Martin, told reporter
this story Of his sister and her alleged wrongs
at the hands of stephen Pettus:
The woman's Alleged wroAgs.
'My sister, said Mr. Martin, "is daugh-
ter Of the late E. j. Martin, of Louisville,
KY, where she was born. During the war
Z the family came north, and father was a
} gold broker ON Wall street. She has been a
! widow for the past nine years, having been
married at an early age TO Frederick South
worth, a banker of Geneva, N. Y. One Of
her ancles was the late Judge Torrey, Of
] Geneva. Mr.. Southworth died within year
after the wedding and Hannah returned to
Louisville. A few years later she came with
her family to Brooklyn. For the past eight
months she has been living with me and her
mother.
Previous to that time she lived at the
Pierrepont House, where her mothers checks
paid all the bills It was during that time
that she was introduced by mutual friend
10 Pettus. This acquaintance with him de-
veloped into friendship ON account of the
intimacy of Hannah's woman friend with
him. Unfortunately, the worst results fol-
! lowed
Dragged and Betrayed.
"She told me nearly four years ago that
this man Pettus drugged and betrayed her
at a New York hotel She was urged by him
10 take glass Of champagne, which she did,
! having been accustomed from childhood to
the use Of wine upon proper occasions In a
{ few moments she lost consciousness, she said,
and knew nothing more of her surrounding
until the following morning, when she walked
up 10 find herself in bed in a strange house.
Overwhelmed with shame she returned
, home, and attempted to conceal her disgrace
bv keepinQ il secret Soon. however she