Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-04-19
CLAIM A DEAD BODY.
WIFE NO. I LOST HER HUSBAND IN
LIFE. BUT WANTS HIS BODY.
,v,,. Nh uurries IL Away-she Ia Fol
lowed by the Woman She
supplanted.
Now York HeraldO

u T. Townsend. who, while dying OF
d,abe,es in the Grand Union Hoie. New
York has been claimed as HUSBAND py
,,ro women. died at the hotel on Tuesday
afternoon.
Hardly had the breath left his pody
v,hen arrdngements were made to get the
CORPSE into the hands Of an under'ahe'
in such manner that wife NO. l. WHO
keeps a clearinghouse at No. IL cart
T'wentv-sixth street, could not discover
whittier II had been taken, and used every
legal means in her power TO get II INTO
her possession. 10, os
Whom Mr.. Townsend died the fact was
lent a secret by the hotel authorizes
No whispar was allowed TO get abroad
that death had stepped in between MN
and the two women, each OF "hoih
claimed TO be Mrs. D. r. TOWNSEND
An undertaker's wagon ratified up 10
a side entrance of the hotel EVluenlS
the undertaken had come to the ho'ei
some time before In a manner WINCH AZ
tracted no attention. for the dead wagon
waited for few moments. ana even
those who regarded II closely were uhap'e
TO tell from whence IT had come. as the
prccautiOn had been taken 10 fe'Ho'e
the plates from the wagon.
When the coffin was placed IN the
wagon the vehicle was driven rapidly
away. and wife No. > and the hotel folks
breathed more freely After the BODY
was taken away no Information was
vouchsafed at the hotel but | learned
later from the employees at the Forty
second-strcet station that 1t had been
placed on board the go train for Croton
Falls which is about fifteen miles from
the town Of Patterson, which has always
been Mr. Townsend's home. and where
his father and mother are buried
WENT TO SEE HER LAWYER.
! could not find Mrs. Townsend No. .,
nor her brother Daniel, who was with her
at the hotel. but the railroad attaches
thought they had gone on to Croton Falls
on an earlier train TO await the arrival Of
the body.
At the moment almost when the man
she called husband. and who for fifteen
years acknowledged that title. was In lAi
death aeOni@s, Mrs. Townsend No. ! was
downtown in search OF her lawyer. Daniel
Card. OF Nos. - and % Nassau street,
whom she was about to direct to brig m
action against Daniel Kent. brother Of
the woman whom she claimed had
usurped her place on the ground that he
had prevented her from seeing her dying
husband.
She also wanted to find out what course
she could take 10 wrest the body Of -.
Il. Townsend from tha custody Of the
woman whom she hated. Her lawyer.
however. was trying a case in Pough-
kccpsie. ana she found she could DO no.
thing until his return.
When ] saw The stricken woman last
evening she was alternately moaning AMI
weeping, and calling down the vengeance
Of Heaven upon the heads Of those who,
she declared. had stolen her husbands
body
This IS the most damnable outrage
ever perpctrated." said she. They have
taken his body 10 Croton Falls. and in
the damp and darkness of the night they
will probably have il driven along that
circuitous. narrow route to that creatures
home in Patterson.
Il have not wept for years and years,
but no wonder ! weep tonight.
HER SET DIFFERENTIATION.
con, Is there no mercy in the world?
For years and years and years ! have
fought for what belonged to me, and even
now in the shadow Of death that awful
woman triumphs'
Up to this moment Mrs Townsend had
|
the woman in her nature Suddenly her
tone changed. and she was strong again,
as she said:
Mark my words. for they will be grave.
but true That woman has sent away
my husbands body, but she cannot bury
II before | arrive IN Patterson. / shall
take the first train i'm the morning when
| get thcrc-I have friends, ana shall
20 into the house whore my dead hus-
bands body les. II they order me out.
or If Daniel Kent lays n hand on me
To detain me. | know my nature 50 well
that as sure IS there Is a God above us
j will send his soul into eternity"
Mrs. Townsend certainly looked the part
she threatened TO play. and when she
gets TO Patterson the townsfolk Will
know she is there But she will be by
no means friendless. II Is from resi-
dents there that she has been Informed
OF the movements Of her husband and
the woman for whom h. obtained n Ne
braska divorce.
Many residents OF Putnam county svn-
pathz" with Mr. Townscnd's first wife
who still claims the title by the decision
Of Judge Lawrence. which annulled the
divorce obtained by her husband