The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-23
THE COPY OF THE DOCUMENT.
NONE OBJ THE WITNESSES, HOW
EVER, CAN BE PRODUCED AT
THIS TIME.
MIR. WATERS ON WITNESS STAND.
Him Up On Crbss-Examinatioh
Many Contradictions.

| the matter Of the claim Of Joseph
| Waters, who declares that he was the
| last husband of Mrs. Anna MintZer,
| and is therefore entitled to her entire
estate. as she died childless, Is realiz-
| ing the liveliest anticipations. It be-
gan yesterday forenoon before Judge
Willrich, and occupied the entire day.
It Is liable to consume several more
days.
The sensational feature Of yester-
days hearing made it's appearance dur
ing the forenoon session, when Mr..
Waters was called to the stand and
in response to his attorney, G. N. Bell,
produced piece Of paper. The paper
on its face is nothing less than GER
tificate Of marriage between Joseph
Waters and Mrs. Anna Mintzer. 1t
was apparently written with stub
pen, and reads as follows:
| State Of Minnesota, County of Ramsey.
i hereby certify that on the oath day OF
March, in the year Of our Lord, one thousand
| eight hundred and ninety-two, at st. Paul, In
| said county, l, the undersigned, a justice OF
the peace assisted by the Rev. Father Bigot,
introduced by, Mrs; ,Waters), did join in the
| hold bonds OF matrtmony, according to the
laws Of this state, Joseph Waters. of the
| County Of Ramsey, and State OF Minnesota.
and Anna R. Mintzer, Of the County of Ram.
| sey and State Of Minnesota, in presence or
| William Hickey
]. B. Bigot,
John Watson.
F. g. Burgess, j. P.
| j. B. Bigot, s. NJ.
The endorsement on the certificate Is
is follows:
"a, 1892. F. c. Burgess, J. P.'
The return has not been found.
If this document is not shown to be
false, Mr. Waters will come into pos
session of personal estate Of the value
Of at least 100000.
The names Of the witnesses. as they
appear above, are not In the hand
writing Of Mr.. Burgess, but in the
selves, as claimed by Mr.. Waters. The
signature of Father Bigot appears
| twice.
The letters IS M" are abbrevia-
tons of Society of Marists," to which
Father Bigot belonged.
| Mr. Waters testified on the direct ex-
animation that he had himself seen
| the witnesses sign their names to that
| certificate. He had himself seen, in
| Burgess Office, that justice Of the
| peace, write out the certificates with
his own hand. He had seen him sign
| it. and had noted the signatures Of
| the witnesses. He was an Episcopa-
| liam. Mrs. MintZer was a Roman Cath
| Ole. 1t was he who had wished the
| presence Of Father Bigot and he had
| come at her invitation The father
| had he said assisted in the ceremony.
| At this juncture Mr.. Bell asked the
| court to adjourn the hearing until the
| time for the administrator to file his
final account arrived, but Judge Will
| rich reiterated his decision Of the day
| before that the proceedings should go
on at once, as he would at any time
grant Mr.. Waters an opportunity to
| bring in witnesses.
| Hayden Cole, the administrator of
| the estate, was first called. He is the
petitioner for a partial distribution.
He had on hand $4,000. All debts had
been paid. Only one claim, for $40,
was pending. He said:
II know nothing Of this claim Of Mr..
| Waters; nothing more than the notice
which is on file here in the court.
Neither Mr.. officer nor Mr.. Bell have
| submitted any proofs to me. l want to
say that at the start I had on hand
| $4,000, and have paid claims amount
| ing to $4,000.
Mr. Cole admitted that he had heard
that there was a paper in existence
that purportedo to be a marriage GER
tificate. Father Thomas, a priest in
the French parish, had told him so
about three weeks ago. He said that
Waters had shown 1t to him in the
presence Of Mr.. O'Brien.
Did Mrs. Mintzer ever talk with
you about being married?"
mo" rs
Did she talk about Mr.. Waters?"
| yes" 90 -
The proponent had no other witnesses
| to call, and the court said that the re-
| ofc oh RI
their claim.
Mr.. Bell-Ons behalf Of Mr.. Waters,
we now offer the marriage license
The license was then handed to the
court. 1t was dated Sept. %, 1890.
Mr. Waters was called, and his tes-
timony was:
81 have lived here twenty years. I
claim to be the husband Of Anna r.
Mintzer. My business is landscape en-
! gineering. I first met Mrs. Mintzer in
1889 or 1890. met her first in Hickey's
hotel, on Robert street. Mr.. Stanley,
| Of Concord street, was present. Mr..
Hickey and Mr.. Stanley introduced me
to her. I afterwards became more ac-
quainted with her. took the marriage
license, and it was presented to the
| court, where we were married, assisted
by the Rev. Mr.. Bigot I had known
Mr.. Burgess intimately for many years.
| William Hickey and John Watson and
| Mr.. Bigot were present. It was about
noon time, the oath Of March, 1892,
Justice Burgess and the clergyman OF
the Catholic church performed the
ceremony. was an unmarried man at
the time. The parties I have named
| were present. The ceremony was
regular marriage ceremony. We took
each other for husband and wife in the
presence Of these witnesses. I believe
I was lawfully married at that time.
| A marriage certificate was made out.
She took it and kept it up to short
| time before her death. Then I kept it
and finally gave 1t to Mr.. Officer. saw
| Mr.. Burgess sign 1t, and saw the wit
nesses sign 1t.
| The certificate was then handed to
defendants for inspection, and Messrs.
| OBrien, Cole, 5Morphy and Holman
bent low over Il and held it up to the
| light.
A formal objection was offered, and
| the paper received.
Counsel rema rked: that the paper
| must remain in possession Of the court.
| The court assented!
Mr.. Bell said, he wished his side to
| have charge of&it.
The other side said that that could
| not be done. q he
Mr.. Bell remarked; 1--WE all know
Mr.. Burgess Handwriting"
The other side objected that they did
not know the writing.
The court took judicial notice that
he had committed Justice Burgess to
the insane asylum.
David Sanford Jr., an attorney, tes-
| titled that he had known Mr.. Burgess
since 1878. Said he:
"My office was about one-half a
| block from his. I knew his handwrit-
| ing. I think, to the best Of my belief,
1 I,ok Ia 1O1 - u. a