The Monmouth inquirer., 1889-11-28
A WOMAN'S VENGEANCE.
Tragic Death of Stephen Pettus
In New York.
SHOT BY HIS ALLEGED VICTIM.


SAYS Ruined Her-The Deceased Was a
Prominent Brooklyn Man.
New York, Nov 23--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
before 10 a. m, 10 front of No. 10 Fulton
street. by Mrs Hannah R. Southworth, who
| fired five bullets from 3S-caliber Smith &
Wessoh revolver into his body. The par
ticulars of the tragic affair are as follows;
About a. m. Mr.. Pettus left his home, at
| No. 40 Eighth avenue, Brooklyn, and went
| to the office of the Brooklyn Elevated rail-
way, where he transacted some business re-
lating to his position as an officer OF that
corporation. He then started for the office,
at No 81 Broad street, this city, where the
firm of Pollard, Pettus & Co. carry on busi-
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 9:45
a. M
Followed by His Nemesis.
His Nemesis, in the person of a tall, willowy
blonde named Mrs Hannah B. Southworth,
followed him down the street and then passed
| into the 'sladies' saloon OF the ferryboat.
She was fashionably dressed in a sealskin
sacoue, trimmed with fur, brown embroid-
cred skirt and jaunty black hat with a
dark veil covering her face In her ears
were solitaire diamond pendants, and her left
hand was covered with a tan suede glove, the
right hand being hidden in the folds of her
! 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 $3.50
o'clock Mr.. 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 emrtied the other four chambers
into her victim After the fourth shot Pet
tus turned partly around and instinctively
threw back his left arm as if to protect him
self. The first four bullets entered his body,
one passing entirely through and smashing
his gold watch that was i'll his left vest
pocket. Any one of these shots. as was sub
sequertly developed at the autopsy, would
have proven fatal The fifth bullet struck
his left arm just above the wrist. Pettus
after receiving the fifth shot ran into Ben
nett's tea store and fell in a heap upon the
floor. Within few minutes he was dead.
He never spoke from the time the first shot
was fired.
The W0man'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. passer-
by and eyewitness of the shooting, whose
name 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 i'm
mediately grasped the weapon from the
woman's hand Not knowing that Pettts
was unconscious and in the last throes Of
death, Officer Goodwin took the murderess
into the tea store in order to 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."
Betrayed and Disgraeed.
"Please don't use me roughly" said Mrs.
Southworth. "You need not hold me. l
am not going to run away. / have done
nothing to be afraid Of" She spoke quietly,
without any apparent nervous excitement
and without any seeming realization Of the
gravity of the act which she had committed.
HE 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 to the
Tombs without bail. She has been living
with her aged mother and her brother at
No. 1886 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 Wrongs.
"My sister," said Mr.. Martin, ''is a daugh-
ter Of the late E. j. Martin, of Louisville,
KY, where she was born. During the war
the family came north, and father was q
| 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, banker of Geneva, N. Y. One Of
her uncles was the late Judge Torrey, Of
Geneva. Mr.. Southworth died within year
after the wedding and Hannah returned te
Louisville A few years later she came with
her family to Brooklyn. For the past eight
months she has been living with me and hel
mother.
Previous to that time she lived at ths
Pierrepont House, where her mothers checks
paid all the bills. 1t was during that timt
that she was introduced by a mutual friend
to Pettus. This acquaintance with him de
veloped into friendship on account OF tht
intimacy Of Hannah's woman friend with
him. Unfortunately, the worst results fol
/ lowed.
Drugged and Betrayed. y
s'She told me nearly four years ago thai
| this man Pettrls drucoed and BETRAYED hel