The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1889-08-08
A FORTUNE.TELLER
And His Wife i'm Jail for Abandoning
Their Child.

wife, with an infant in her arms, were
brought from Acworth TO this place and
placed in JAIL under a warrant sworn out
before Justice R. NJ Mitchell. The war.
rant charges John W. Kendall and Mary
Kendall of having abandoned their of
spring and failing to provide for its sup.
port
It seems that Cd the night of the LIST
inst, this couple placed their two weeks
old girl baby on the front steps of the
residence Of ex-senator J. ]. Northcutt, OF
Acworth. On the morning of the I'd, Mr..
Northcutt discovered the helpless babe
and enquiries were at once made as to
who the heartless parents were. 1t was
remembered by some of the citizens that
a man and his wife, with baby, had been
seen tramping through the town, and it
was surmised that they were the persons
who had abandoned the child to the cold
charity of the world. Officers were i'm
mediately sent in pursuit and the father
and mother were overtaken in Paulding
county and charged with the oAeuse They
acknowledged it and were brought back
and waived trial, and were remanded to
jail.
We had talk with Kendall and his
wife in Jail. Both were crying and lament
ing in woeful language their hard fate.
He said his home was in Perry county,
Indiana, l6 miles from Carrollton, the
county seat. He married his wife, Mary
Roberts, in Springfield, Mo-, six years
ago. They came to Georgia last summer
He is 40 years old and his wife 81.
We asked him why he had abandoned
his child.
He responded, well, sir, had been
hunting work, was unable to find any, was
out of money, nothing to eat, and my wife
was almost exhausted for lack of food to
nourish the child, and we did not know
what else to do to save the child, as the
heat and walking was so severe on my
wife, that we were unable to 20 on further
with it. found out that Mr.. Northcutt
was good, Christian man, OF means, and
| thought it was better to place the child
in good, Comfortable home than have to
tramp on, and it would probably fare
worse. 1t was hard, pinching poverty that
caused 1t want to support my child,
but | could not get any work to do. The
last work had was on the farm of Mr..
Joe Fincher at Holly Springs, Cherokee
county, Ga. 3 where our child was born
about two weeks ago"
His wife spoke up, Yes, sir, that is
true. My husband is good man to me,
and he provided for me the best he could. y
What have you been following in At
lant? we inquired.
Kendall replied, Il am spiritualist
and fortune-teller. / delivered lecture
on spiritualism at 81 Alabama street, but
the city license for fortune telling was so
high was unable to pay it, and / had to
leave and hunt work.
well, if you could tell fortunes, why is
1t you didn't foresee the trouble you would
get in. if you abandoned your child?' He
was confused and was unable 10 say.
IF you can tell fortunes, tell us how
you will get out of Jail and escape punish
mentY
He said his mind was too much troubled
to do so now.
We asked him if he didn't think that
there was more sure way to make a
fortune than by going through the country
trying to dupe the ignorant by telling
fortunes?
He said, "Oh, can tell things, and
people are satisfied and generally pay me
for it.
He went back to his Jail trouble and
said he thought it was hard to punish him
and his wife in their restitution, and il
they would let him out and give him work,
he would support his child.
The child. its mother said, was two
weeks old on Wednesday of this week 1t
is fat, plump, blue-eyed child and look
ed as if it was month old. To have to be
Graded in Jail is rather bad beginning
for the little girl.