Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1890-04-18
LOCAL..
SAFE In AN INSANE ASYLUM.
Miss Mary Rebecca ShiDEy a Patient at St. Denis
Retreat in Maryland.

Retreat in Maryland.
SHE COULD NOT SEE WHY SHE COULD NOT
RETURN TO STAUNTON-THE sTRANG-
EST OF DELUsIONs = INTERESTING
SKETCH OF ROMANTIC LIFE-TIIE
MATERIAL FOR A NOVEL.
&C, sc, sc.
On Friday last, Miss Mary Rebecca Ship
ley of Staunton, whose arrest in Philadel-
phia for shop-lifting goods at various dry
goods stores, has been given, was entered as
patient at the private Sanitarium of DR..
J. S. Conrad at st. Denis, Nd, near the
Relay House, about nine miles from Balti-
more. Dr.. Conrad was former Superinten-
dent of the Maryland State Hospital for
the insane, and after leaving that position
opened this private Sanitarium for harm
less patients. The place was recommended
to Miss Shipley S friends by a distinguished
physician of Washington city, and she
was brought on from Philadelphia, where
she had been in the care of her grandmother,
and entered there as patient. So utterly
unconscious was she of having committed
any crime that she had expected to return
to her former boarding house in Staunton,
and when her friends left her at st. Denis
was very much depressed and low spirited.
She, however, offered no opposition to enter
ing there, being assured that such treat
ment as she would receive there was vitality
necessary to her.
cir ron of or. Of
makers establishment in Philadelphia,
which have been only partially published,
fully establish the fact of her insanity.
There are fifteen detectives engaged in that
establishment, and one of them saw her put
ting some small articles in her pocket. He
reported it to Chief Detective Smith of
the force, who went to her and invited
her into his Office in the building. Getting
in there, he asked her to be seated and asked,
"Have you delivered any articles you
have not paid for ?' She, without
hesitation replied, "Oh, I have several ~
After she produced them he asked, 'Have
you any more?'' She, as promptly replied,
sob, a good many more-not with me, but
in my trunk at the hotel. They are all az
ranged separately so they cannot get mixed
those l got from here and some took from
Strawbridge's and other places. In order
to identify them l have left the private
marks on each article.'' She gave all the
names of theplaces. She gave her full name
and address, and said ''she intended to have
given supper at the hotel and invite per-
from ctoJn1 oh t,
tell them of her feat, and return the
articles" By this time Detective Smith
was convinced that he had klepto-
maniac to deal with. He told her he was
sorry she had given her right name, and adj
vised her when she went before the magis-
trate to give another name and avoid ex
posture in the papers. She replied that she
could not do that, for that would be telling
a falsehood. He said he could not see that
telling a falsehood: was much worse than
stealing, but she did not seem to understand
that she had been stealing at all. When she
was committed to Jail by Judge Clement,
her grandmother had her bailed out and
took her home where she was treated with
great kindness until she started, Thursday,
for st. Denis. Both Detective Smith and
Judge Clement were satisfied, before they
finished with the case, that Miss Shipley
was insane.
AS Miss Shipley was well known here
and as some errors crept into the various
accounts given of her romantic history,
we have taken the trouble to get correct
account Of it. She is forty three years of
age. Her mother married Mr.. Shipley in
Philadelphia against the will of her parents,
who were members of the Society of Friends.
After their marriage MI. Shipley moved to
Baltimore where he lived ten OF fifteen
years, and died leaving widow and three
children. Mary was the youngest and but
four years old. A short time after the
death of Mr.. Shipley the house in which the
widow lived was burned, leaving them
penniless. Mary was adopted by German
couple who moved to Ohio, where, about
eighteen years after that, both of them
died. Her adopted mother, before her
death, revealed to Mary her true name and
who were her real parents, and advised her,
after her death, to dispose of what effects
she left and go to Baltimore and see if she
could find her parents.
In the mean time Mrs. Shipley, Mary's
mother, had removed from Baltimore to
Newark, N. j., and married again. Mary
on getting to Baltimore spent some
months searching for her mother, but
could learn nothing of her. She then
learned the millinery trade and in
that way supported herself. About
this time her grandfather, whose for
tune was estimated at 100000, died be-
queathing to her mother life estate in
$4,000, the principal of which was to go
to her three children when she died, and
also bequeathing to each of the three chill
dren, $4,000, but providing that these
last requests should not be paid until
Rebecca (she had not been known to him by
the name of Nary should be found, OF the
fact of her death established. The other
two heirs applied to the Orphans Court of
Philadelphia for their shares, but the
Court refused to grant them unless the
other heir was found OF her death estab-
lished as provided by the w i'll.
Catherine, one of the heirs, then under
took to find her missing sister. She went
to Baltimore and by some fortunate cir
cumstance stopped at the very boarding
house Mary Rebecca had boarded at before
coming to Staunton. Stating the object of
h 10