Omaha daily bee., 1889-04-09

wife.
Now, say another thing, and johnson OF
Chicago, shrewd lawyer, could not deny it,
that that evidence, aud the letters wherein
he called her wife and wherein she called
him husband, constituted n common law mar
rage. That is undisputed. johnson ad-
mitted that upon the witness stand: that it
constituted a common law marriage. Now,
then you ask: Why do these letters teen
with expressions Of "You promised to marry
me.n will tell you why they did. This
marriage, while common law marriage, was
not marriage that would be recognized by
society, was not marriage that would be
recognized by the church. And you will
bear in mind gentlemen, that want to call
your attention to this that when she first
talks of this
Solemn Promise to Marry
it is at time when there Is growing in the
bed of creation fntal life, and when she
looks forward to the hour when there shall
be born to her son or daughter, and she
wants it born into the church, in the love of
Christ, recognized by the church, and recog-
nized by the Christian world. And she says,as
she took her brother, and made her husband
walk up to the church and be godfather to
the baptism, in the namo of Jesus she wants
her child the same, when that child is born.
II cannot baptise the loins of Henry w.
King under the name OF lie Garde, and
will not do it, will not bring into this
world d boy child or girl child that shall
have upon its mind to carry through this
wicked, cruel world, sins that
| have caused it in infancy
The burden is great enough anyway"
That is what she wanted, gentlemen, That
is what the murderess wanted. These are
the promises, and whom read these letters
over will show rs | say, it is a matter of
law here; it don't make one bit of difference
one way or the other
Now, then, let us go. further. / have
shown that ut least she was a true and faith
full wife during all this time. Now, then, let
us see what she generally did again One of
hA fire hiptr hot n inNh N
a woman of the character that this prosecu-
tion, aud particularly the private prosecu-
ton, would represent her to be would be
that
she Would BE After Money.
"Henry w. King, your father, is worth
millions. / am starving here. Why don't
you 20 to your father and make him give you
money! Whv don't you tell your father that
he must give us money, or will go tnere"
Years roll on, and do you find her anywhere
asking him to go to that millionaire father
for money! We will see wnen we come to
the letters. There is one thing we do not
find. Then how did they start in that life.
Stating in Chicago and soon gathering
under little home roof in the city Of
Quincy respected by all. Let us see:
Henry w. King is nearly ten years her
senior, a college graduate, man of the
world. She has nothing, as she says in ope
of her letters, but her own souls devotion
and love. They lived together How did
they come to goa Henry w. King walks
out of his fathers house an outcast. Henry
W. King is banished from his fathers and
his mothers hearthstone, and driven out
upon the world, and the home denied him.
Henry w. King walks away from the King
mansion disinherted son, on account of the
profigate and corrupt life that he had led
nearly ten years this woman's senior. What
did this woman do!
The Father Disinherited Him
of fathers love, of mothers company, of
home, of all. She the defendant inherited
him with a love that Knocked at cruelty,
with love that Knocked at starvation, with
love that Knocked at deprivation. She in
herited him with u purpose that stood like
the rocks of Gibraltar against the dashng
waves of adversely. That is what she did
She gave him more, aye more than all that
his father and his mother had disinherited
him Of She found him unworthy to enter
his fathers house, and she took
him and made home for him.
She taught him the devotion Of love; she
taught him to kneel beside the child and
say, "Our Father which art in heaven" She
led him into the church on the high road to
heavens door. That is what this murderess
did. When his own family had driven him
out, she gave him love, she gave him devo-
tion, she taught him christianity, she led him
into the church. That is what this murderess
did, gentlemen. -.-.
So much to do for her general conduct Is
this the conduct of a murderesss Is this the
conduct of a vicious woman! Now, then, as
Gentlemen, 1 want to be tedious now,
if anything is tedious to You that.
involves the character, life, and the liberty
of this woman. You sit in a position the i'm
portance of whichyou never occupied before,
and will never perhaps again so long as you
shall live. want to go now into the private
life of Libbie King as shown by the state
itself, and want to say here that these
Letters Are a Monument
of glory. But hear some of you say, "Why
did object T. than Mr. Gown 2ii I oh
iected to therh because knew they were six
or seven letters out of hundreds. L wanted
to see if | could get any more. | said, "if
you will do that we will let them all go i'm
three years to be covered by
the private correspondence of Libbie King
Hundreds of letters of devotion passed dur
ing that time between herself and her hus-
band. But let me say to yOu that with the
examination of great lawyers, inspectors,
and detectives out of the hundreds of let.
ters, they have taken five or six or seven of
the very worst. In these papers that hold
between that finger and that thumb is the
worst thing that could be said against Libbie
King during her life with Harry. What
could have been said had the other letters
been produced! Aye, more than that. gen
tlemen, so scrupulous were they in regard to
this matter that one of these letters is
mutilated,
And a Sheet Taken Out of
Not by the district attorney who, in his can
dor, said that that was gone when it came to
him. So scrupulous are they, so infamous,
so damnable.
He here entered upon review OF his clients
private life, taking the letters introduced rs
evidence as the basis of his argument. He
read them to the jury, discussing each and
every point at considerable length aud re-
sumed: We objected to their introduction
because, IN their pages is found the only
thing that can be used against this poor
woman, and because they give only
One-Sided Portion
of mass of correspondence.
The faithfulness of Llbbic as Kings wife
was shown to exist in every line and her
great sacrifices in every word, action and
deed. She would sell her diamond ring and
go TO Chicago, but not to get one dollar out
of the Golfers of the millionaire. -
Ali, the day may not be far distant when
the head of the house of King may plead of
this prosecuted woman
For One Drop of Water
to, cool his parched tongue. "Marry me,
Harry King and ! will be content, if neces-
sary, to live in barn. This Is what she
said, "You must marry me or we can't any
longer live this kind of a life" Little did
she think when asking him to send back her
ring that King had pawned it and spent the
money for his own dissipation.
You must, gentlemen of the jury, digest
rightly these letters, the thought, the soul,
1 Il. As.rA 60 .nal NsNaI .NatE