The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-12-25


ter the second opens in a rather unex
pccted manner. Last week Squire VIM
cent, Of Henric0 county, Issued a wal
rant for the arrest OF Mrs. Laura I.
Taylor The complainant was Mrs. NJ
=. Farrar, and she charged that Mrs
Taylor assaulted her and drove her from
the apartments which she rented IN hcr
house. Mrs. Farrar claimed that Mrs.
Taylor was a spiritualislc medium, and
that she made the acquaintance OF her
sister shortly after settling IN Henrico
county. Mrs. Taylor one day called on
the sister, who H. an invalid ana now re-
siding In Washington, ana conhded 10
her that she had message from the
dead for her The latter, very much sur
pfised. asked for an explanation Mrs.
Taylor inquired II The lady had not lost
q son some years before, and upon being
answered in the Affirmative went on TO
say that the spirit OF the deceased had
communicated the message TO her. The
interview that followed resulted In the
conversion Of the mother Of the dead
young man 10 spirituallsm, ana, suDse-
Quenuy, soances were given by the me-
dlum for her benefit Through her sis
ter's relations with the medium. Mrs.
farTar became acquainted with Mrs. Jay
lor. and also became very much attached
20 her. When her sister went TO reside In
the Capital city, some time ago, Mrs.
Earrar took up her residence In Mrs.
JaylOr's house. Recently, ~ appears.
they have not lived I'm harmony. and the
final rupture resulted IN the alleged at
tempt oil Mrs Taylor to eject Mrs. Far
rar by force from the premises.
A SECLUDED PLACE.
The women appeared before Justice
Vincent and were recognized Tor their
appearance Oh the 18th instant, which
is Saturday.
These facts excited my curiosity, and 1
commenced 10 investigate the matter
Monday afternoon ! drove out TO where
Mrs Taylor is al present living. After
IHf
her upon what IS known as the CITY
Farm, which Is about a mile back OF the
Brook store. opposite Major Ginters
country residence. The place IS COM
pletely surrounded by body OF pines
and cannot be seen unOl you are near
by. The approach 10 the house Is made
by skirtnE "A body Of pines that line
both sides OF a deep ravine through
which flows a small stream.
This same ravine almost encircles the
premises. thereby making the location
OF the house rather prominent. ! hlst
approached an old and dilapidaied struc-
cure that had once served as barn. As
] walked 10 the house Mrs. IaylOr, VINO
was In the yard, came forward 10 meet
me. She was talking 10 negro man, ana
near by a little boy whom l Afterwards
learned TO be her twelVe-year-Old son,
Leon. was engaged I'M cnOpping WOOD. !
made myself known and We entered the
house. Right here occurred an incident
which only served 10 excite my suspl-
cions. A negro. woman approacheu w
man 10 whom Mrs. Taylor mad been talh-
ing and IN rather violent Language up
raided him for being upon the premises
and forced him TO leave with her.
LIKE A HAUNTED HOUSE.
brief description Of the house viii
not be out Of place II was the most
dilapidated structure have ever seen,
and a few years more viii level IL 10
the ground. 1t is d frame structure OF
two stories. with a basement Dut vlIy
one room IS habitablo, and in this Mrs.
TAYLOR and her son live. II was an -hh-
corner was the bed, in another a new
stove, with no pipe A small ire burned
on the hearth, while on top OF thc bu-
reau. which is next to the door, as you
enter, lay a new Smith ana NessOn re-
VOlver which was loaded. There were n
new set Of chairs In the room, Fahu Il
new table upon which were the remains
OF the couples dinner. only one WINDOW
admitted feeble hght mo .ne Si,i's-' ~ ~
apartment, whose walls were cracked ia
many places. Two other doors, leaulhs
from the room, were closed ana stcuieu
10 the wall by a lock and CHAIN. a
later inspection OF TINS mousse uisclo9C1
the fact that the rooms were unoccupleu
and fast going 70 decay. one era OF lhe
house was supported by props 10 prevent
its falling into the cellar. The stIuclui1
was OF wood and shows SIGNS OF hdNints
been strongly built At the time OF lt9
erection II must have been place OF 10
mean proportions ,... s.,....
Mrs Taylor appeared 10 be about forty
years Of age with face above the orul-
nary i'm point of intelligence. She was
very guarded 81 her remarks, ana eyed
me closely when ] questioned her. She
appeared TO dread newspaper publicity,
/ asked her about her relations with
Mrs. Farrar. and after a good deal OF
persuasion on my part she gave me
number OF disconnected facts, which
made an interesting and uncanny story
Despite her precautions, she frequently /
made statements that contradicted each |
other.
A STRANGE sEANCE.
She denied being a spirtualistc medium
)ut and out, and yet when in company /
with a medical expert / called upon her /
Yesterday morning. she and her son, the |
after acting az the medium, treated us /
10 seance, that owing 10 its weird ma |
true smacked OF the mysterious, 70 say |
he least on my first visit Mrs. Taylor |
old me that she came from Denver. Col, /
where she had property which she was |
making arrangements 10 dispose Of with /
view 10 purchasing the City Farm. !
She reached this city in June and board
"a around at number OF places. she I
net Mrs. Farrar. and the two agreed 10 |
i've together upon the City Farm. Her
tatements regarding how their intimacy
prung up were OF "a contradictory ma
ure, embracing details connected with
evcral people OF prominent station in
his city. After the two had settled tho
rouble commenced. Mrs Farrar, accord
ng to Mrs. Taylor's statement, would
it up all night, keep the fire burning.
md talk TO imaginary persons whom she
aid she saw in the air around her. She
'ecame very violent, and Mrs. Taylor and
Ter son were forced 10 set up at night TO
rOtect their lives, and upon one occasion
irs Taylor claims that Mrs. Farrar
ried to take her sons life by cutting his
hrOat. She gave me description OF a
lumber of other queer things that her
oarder did. Things finally became SO
unpleasant that Mrs. Taylor told Mrs.
'arrar that she would have To leave the
q Tor her things. and was followed by
'Ounty Officer Garnett with a warrant
or Mrs. Taylors arrest. The women
'cnt before Squire Vincent, and Mrs
'aylor claims that upon her return she
ound her house had been broken into
nd everything taken away. She said she
ad not cent in the world, and had
cen practically without food for three
ays.
A WEALTHY RELATIVE.
On my second visit she admitted her
on drew a pension of 81 per month be-
huse his father had been i'm the Union
rmy. She first declared she had only
40 children, the other boy Of nineteen
ears, living in Chicago. Yesterday she
that she had a third son
Ow In the West.
asked Mrs. Taylor If il was not true
lat she had very wealthy grandfather
no had once owned the City Farm and
uried money, jewels. and valuable pa
ers there. and that her present purpose
as TO find the same
She became greatly agitated and with
.ars in her eyes begged me not 10 mem
on the matter. Then ] drew from her
&c following story:
Her Grandfather. Major Do1lo ~ r1o,-oo