Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1889-01-23

soon gave up all idea of marriage. He
grew more and more moody and at last
determined to rid himself of his tor
mentor by violence. The scene result
ing from this determination was most
dramatic. One night about II o'clock
as Thorckmorton. was walking home
through,a lonely street, he glanced over
his shoulder and saw his ghost a few
yards behind silently following him.
He waited in dark alley until she
came up aud then suddenly sprang out
on her. He snatched her veil from her
face and dragged her by the throat to
the nearest lamp post.
"Why do you follow me?" he asked,
his voice trembling with passion. She
made no reply, and, clutching her more
firmly by the throat, he drew dagger.
She made no attempt to resist him,
and just as the dagger was about to be
plunged into her breast she cried out
half choked and every instant expect
ing death: "Kill me John, but kiss me
first" Throckmorton threw the dag
ger away, pushed the woman aside, and
fed before he could be tempted again.
Atlength Throckmorton could stand
it no longer, and Ellen Goodwin was ar
rested at his instance and tried for in
sanity. The old court house in Louis
vile, where Henry Clay and the Crit
tendens had many hard-foUght battle
in the days gone by, was packed as it
never was before or since. The most
eminent legal talent was employed, and
the evidence was of the most sensation
al character. Ellen Goodwin was put on
the stand and was given most severe
cross examination. Her answers were
clear and intelligent, and after hours of
closest questioning the opposing law
yers were forced to admit that they
could make nothing of her. Poems
written by her, essays and articles were
read to the jury, and at last her lawyer.
young Ely Parsons, arose to defend
her. He was a man of commanding
presence. trained elocutionist, and a
rarely gifted orator. For four hours he
kept the audience entranced. He told,
in all Its dramatic details, the story of
Ellen Goodwin. He went over the
scene of the midnight meeting and
argued that the woman had simply
been wronged and was seeking justice.
He pointed to her wan, haggard face,
her delicate frame, and contrasted the
beautiful, tender, gentle girl John
Throckmorton had first met. His pc
roration was masterpiece, and when
he sat down the jury, without rising
from their seats, found her sane. Then
the lawyer and the client were borne
away by the shouting thousands, and
such scenes were enacted as were never
before witnessed in that sombre old
court room. A few months later Par
sons was elected to Congress because of
the speech. From the day of her ac-
quittal Ellen Goodwin never again fol-
lowed Throckmorton. He left the city
and died few years afterwards. alone
on his plantation in Mississippi, far
from friends and relatives.
After his death Ellen Goodwin grew
weaker and weaker. The strength
which had borne her up through all the
years of her unexampled pursuit gave
way. She wrote a full history of her
life, for which a Chicago publishing
house offered her $4,000. She refused
the offer. saying the book should be
buried with her.
One day she went to Cave Hill Gene
terry, one of the most beautiful burying
grounds in the world. just outside of
Louisville, and told her sister, who had
followed her through ali the dleary
years with q per ect devotion, that in
one particular spot she wished to be
buried, dressed as bride, with the
book containing all her trials and
wrongs upon her breast. week after
wards she was laid to rest there, and
little slab at the head of the grave tells
the story of her most eventful lite.