The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-06-01
ANOTHER pRAMA IN COURT.

From first to last the Jessup case is SEN
sational melodrama, far more exciting than
sUme which are presented on the boards
It embraces all the elements of a true drama
love, crime, deSerton, a broken heart,
blghted hopes, depths Of despair, followed
as it may be by the triumph of the true
prince and the defeat of the pretend er.
Twenty-six years ago Gershom p JeSsup
was q prosperous merchant at Mary syille.
To Marysville came atthat time ayoung lady
not devoid of beauty. well educated, and
with some knowledge Of the usage of society.
who was named Josie Lands. Her family
resided at Nicolaus, in Suffer County. She
had Just left bOarding-schOOl i'll Santa
Clara County. She and JeSSup met, talked,
fliTted, and finally loved, not wisely but too
we'll Less than a year afterward JeSSup
hired room for Miss Lands at the house
of a coIored woman in this city, and there,
on March 20, 1866, Richard Jessup was
born. The mother left him when he was
two months old, and only once saw him
aftervard. Gershom Jessup paid the negro
woman for the child's board, ana assented.
when he was years old, TO his transfer to
the care of her daughter at Petaluma, to
whom Jessup continued to pay a regular
monthly sum for the maintenance of the
boy. Once, when the boy was II years old,
he was visited by a yelled lady, who wept
over him and held him in her arms for
hours, .petting and caressing him. Next
morning she disappeared, and the TWO never
met again, so far as appears from the testi-
mOny.
Josie Lands was still unmarried, and she
seems to have claimed possession of her
son. Disputes arose between herself and
Jessup, with whom her intimacy had
ceased; but before they rpened into law
suit settlement was effected, by which, in
consideration Of a sum fixed, she res gned
all claims on him and all rights over her
child Nine or ten years aiterWard she
married a doctor, and shortly afterward
died. Meantime. as soon as the settlement
was effected, JeSSup sent the boy to a col
lege under the name Of Richard Miller.
There he remained five years. When he
left the college Jessup's affection for his
son appeared to die out. He had been in
the habit Of calling to see him and showing
him marks of tenderness. Now he seemed
to throw him off. He told his brother,
Isaac, that he had tried to make a man Of
the boy, but had been disappointed in him;
that he had thrown him off because he had
been able to make nothing Of him. What
ever his motive was, there was no doubt Of
the fact that the boy was discarded. His
allowance ceased, and he had to earn his
own living, which he did not find easy. He
worked for a while as a boOt-black in a
barber-shOp; then in a tannery, then in
other places where unskilled labor was en-
ployed, and, finally, when GeTshOm Jessup
died, he was bell-bOy in thiri-rate hotel in
this city.
When the decease of Gersh ON Jessup
was announced the boy found attorneys to
take up his case on a contingent fee. They
proved to the satisfaction Of Judge Coffey
that the homeless LAD was really the Height
mate son of GeTshom Jessup, and that the
father had so far acknowledged him by
supporting and educating him as to bring
his case within the provision of the code
enabling Legitimate children to inherit.
Judge Coffey decided that he was his fathers
heir. The case was appealed to the Supreme
Court, aid the decision confirmed. But in
the vicissitudes of judicial life a change
took place in the personnel Of the Supreme
Court The attorneys for the collateral
heirs took steps 10 determine whether the
new court might not be differently minded
on Inc point OF lue recognition o. uieSitl-
mate children from the OLD one. They sue
&c eded in bringing the case before it once
more, and his time decree reversed Judge
Cotfey's decision, and reCommitted the case
for a second trial. That has just DPen had
aud has ended in a second decision by
Judge Coffey confirming the first.
Presumably the case viii now 90 to the
Supreme Court once more. Meantime the
personnel of that tribunal has undergone
several changes, and new minds will have to
investigate the facts and join in the final de-
cisOD.