The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-03-17
MADELINE A WITNESS.
Mss Pollard Testifies Against
Old Mr.. Breckenridge.
TELLING HER STORY or SHAME
o, Cross- Il . min altos She shows sAarn
Wt-The Csugressmsa Secretly
Married.

tinct sensations were furnished today in
the PoIlar3-Brecxlnridge breach Of prom.
lie trial. The foremos. was the appear.
snee OF the slender plaintiff on the stand.
witness IN her oxn behalf. but the one OF
the creates. interest TO legal circles vas
the corroboration Of rurnor which has
heen for several days assoas, shat Col.
Brecklnr5dge vas secretly married TO Mrs.
Wing In New York last April. three
months before the public ceremony in
Cincinnati. When Col. Breckinrsdge vas
phown the dispatch from Nex York he
refused to admit It's truth or 20 contrsd:ct
H. His counsel aud Law partner, Col.
Shelby. however. confirmed the report. a.
did Attorney Stall. The latter said, when
earlier marriage:
at would not be proper to forecast our
case at this stage, bat will say that Col.
4 Breck nrdge 10 to take the siaad very
soon. and will all be made known. Until
then neither Col. Breckinriags nor bis
counsel would be- wise TO discuss the de.
tense. As for the marriage certificate
fied By Dr.. Paxton, OF course, tina, speaxs
for Itself"
Il 10 improbable that this secret mar
rage viii constitute . new legal factor in
the case. for while n occurred on Arril q.
the approximations which Col. Breckin-
ridge made TO Mrs. Blackburn that Miss
Pollard was his fiaucee were made prior TO
the secret marriage. the promise made in
the presence Of Mai. Moore, the chief of
police, being those which we're subsequent
% the secret ceremony.
In giving her testimony today Miss Pol
lard was decidedly nervous at first, but,
not.is hstanding the strain under which
she isbored, was remark ably self possessed
and carefai In her choice o. words. She
looked directly toward Col. Breckinridge,
seldom lifting her eyes from his face Her
anguage and manner were those OF .
~ell-bred lady: she sounded her vowels
broadly with the air heard in the drawing
rooms OF the -four hundred" and her
answers to the cross-examination Of Mai
Butteraorth "ere often turned back upon
him keeniy. making boomerangs of his
questions.
Miss Pollard testified tina. her father
was saddIer by trade. dying in
1876. when she was 10 years old He left
no estate, but was an Odd Fellow and q
Mason. and the members Of the Grand
Lodges of the state of those orders at
tended the funeral, and she and her sisters
we're taken TO the Odd Fellows home
to live. Then the testimony jumped
to her life at Washington City. omit
ting the early stages Of her acquaintance
with the defendant. who Endorsed all her
papers for position in the civil service
bureau. In the last days Of August, 1902,
be met her al the Baltimore & Ohio depot
Washington City. put his arms around
her and kissed her.. lie took her to q car.
rage and told her he WAS determined to
marry her, and sho promised to marry
him. He said he married his second wife
fourteen months after the death of his
FIRST and year after the death of his sec
ond no would marry the plaintiff. She
wanted him TO wait two years. ana pro-
posed to SO to Europe with Miss Willard
on school trip for young ladies.
! He strenuously opposed being left
alone, saying such desertion would
be selfish. and she gave il up. A letter
from Miss Catherine Willard dated Gray
Gables. Buxzard's Bay, Mass. in October,
1872. referring TO the proposed European
trp, was read. The witness dwelt at
length on the constant attention paid her
by Breckinridge. saying he visited her
daily. sometimes twice q day, often IN the
evening: how he paid her expenses on .
visit 30 New York. and how she accom-
panied him on iecturing tour to New
/ England
The witness then went back to her first
meeting with Breckenridge in April, 1854,
when he approached her on a car between
Lexington and Frankfort, protesting to
have met her before. Then came the story
of her relations 10 James c. Rhodes. who
undertook to educate her If she would
marry him; of her sending for Breekin-
ridge for counsel as an attorney;
OF the means which he took TO
be alone with her without chance of in
'errup, ion: of their subsequent intimacy.
and of the birth of her children in ISIS, and
ISIS She testified that Breckenridge had
taken her with him on several occasions
when he went out of the city 10 address
religious bodies. He had given her no
reason for the postpohement of the dates
txed for The marriage and she never asked
fer any until the scene in the office
OF Col. Moore. From tho nigh,
he took me To Sarah's in Issi."
said Miss Pollard. dramatically, there
i never Was 4 suggestion Of discontiuuanee Of
those miserable relations until he Jeff ne
xith al sorts of promises. pleadings aud
loving words. on May 10. ist9.' Witness
Produced letters and kilograms from
Breckenridge containing words of endcar-
neat a0d closed the testimony BY declar-
Ing that never since she knew him bad
!. ste teen intimate with any other man.
hes frame sss shaking with suppressed
emotion as she passed out of the court
loom leaning on the arm of an attendant.
Ia the crosS-examination. which was
eoadu tel by Mr. Bntterwor,h. the fenc-
Ing between the skilled lawyer and the
young woman was SO keen as 80 furnish
Z Instituted amusement 80 the court In
January. lsA. Miss Pollard had
been engaged tn Mr.. Rhodes. and
when asked IL Mr.. Rhodes WAS paying her
board SO said lie was !oaning the
money sey schooling" How long did
;Ast engagement Iastf" Until the fell
lowirr December. SIR. breckenridge
: remembers il well. He WAS Goa
ceaied IN the siitin. room snd
heard me break the engagement
sever roncealei a thing from Mr. Breek-
int.tse lu-ing those wears, and am sur
rsse. TIA. he should ssI here and let yoI
asa ne such questions. WAS ,hen pregnant
e ta. hrec>,nr,tse with my aFsi child
s fae coar, adjourned until Monday. Sesv-
3 NJ the accumulation unfinished
{. NEw NrnK. March l6 The Ffeafas !ost
3 pa. Size. certificate died with ,he health
department. bv Rev. pr. JOAN r. Paxton.
shown that ". {. L. BrecknTadee mar
9 Ties I1uSia L :. Wing April -. lsssA
This as a secret marriage sud the pa5Iie
eSrsn,s.- - iast IuIy II - thought