Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1902-10-02


that be saw him again the following
day, when stanton admitted to him
that the marriage certificate signed by /
himself had been pressed upon the clerk
of the county board of health for entry |
very recently to cover his tracks. He /!
testified that Stanton told him that he |
had been trapped.
He said that Stanton had told him |
that he had tried to make the clerk of
the health department believe thar the
wedding Of Laura Biggar and Henry M.
Bennett had occurred in 1888, and that
he had urged the clerk to enter the GER
tificate on his books for that year.
Mr.. McNulty swore that he had never
seen Laura Bisgar until 1901, when he
met her in tho Victoria Hotel, in
Pittshurg, at time when the late Mr..
Bennett was very ILL She was very
nervous and ill at ease, he said, saying
that she was fearful that Bennett
might die without making will, when
she would have no status in tho division
of his property. This was three years
aftor the date Of tho marriage certiti-
cate furnished the court by former JUS
tice Stanton of Hoboken.
II told the woman,'' said the wit
ness, ''more to comfort her than any
NhlhB Vious eiNt D1ilLStb Noulhh
overlook her in the will. She was en-
Outraged, but said she did net know
what would become OF her if he didn't
make a viii and leave her most OF his
property.
At this point Lawyer Arrowgmith,
for the heirs and executors, showed the
witness the marriage certificate fur.
nished by Stanton to establish that
Laura Biggar and Bennett were mar
ried in 1893. The certificate was dated
january I'd, 1888, +" but there were
scratches and ernsures about the date.
The certificate had apparently been
made out upon blank marriage GER
titicate for use after 1900, for il was
clear that the numerals 10 had been
| printed on the date line with dash
after them to supply the remaining two
numerals giving the year the certincate
| was issued. The numeral 3 had ap-
parently been scratched out and an
SO" written in its place.
| With this certificate was submitted a
! blank exactly like it, dated "19--."l
| The witness said that he identified the
latter as blank he had purchased IN
Reade street, New York City, from a
firm that supplied blanks to justices Of
| the peace in Hoboken.
McNulty said that several weeks ago
| he and others of the PARTIES interested
| went to thu. sanitarium of DR.. Hendrick
! in Bayonne to see Laura Biggar. When
he arrived there he said DIR. Hendrick
! said u didn'tyknow you were going to
bring mob with you, 30 can't let
you see her.
He said he asked if the woman was
going to contest the will, Wherein on
Hendrick said II don't know. She
may set up the plea that she is the
common law wife of Bennett; she may
sue for services to him in his old age,
or she may just accept the portion al
lotted to her by the will, amounting to
round half million dollars. !" Moth
ing was said at the time about the
marriage.
The next witness was Alfred Water.
son, one of the lawyers for the heirs
and executors. He oorroborated the
testimony of McNulty concerning the
l.visit to the sanitarium.
John +. Hawkins, executor for the
estate aud q lawyer of Asbury Park,
J who drew up the will of the aged mil
lionaire, was the next witness. He sale
that be was introduced to Laura Big
, gar by the deceased not long before hi!
, death as Miss Biggar, and nevei
heard of her being MRS. Bennett
, until last August, when she wanted t.
{ bury child in the same grave will
! the deceased, saying it was the offspring
of their marriage Then she signed he
$ name for the first time, so far as ht
. knew, as Mrs. Bennett
He said he saw her once at Farming
0 dale at Mr.. Benefits famous Windso
! stock farm. She said to him then tina
y she had always earned $500 week a
r an actress and as she had quit tn
y stage for the sake OF Mr.. Bennett sh
1 would put in claim as his common
\ law wife, il be died and left her out O
g his will.
The witness swore that Mrs. Shat
r tuck, wife OF an intimate frienu of Mr.
Q Bennett, asked Laura Biggar in hi
Y presence why she had never marie
:. him and that her reply was "Oh, Mr
l Bennett is q man who Will never MARI
II any woman He has a monument on
Q there in the cemetery for himself bu
d there is no place there for me-" Th
Q witness said that this was much late
a than the date of the certificate fui
9 nished by Stanton.
! Joseph Tucker was tho last and mos
It important witness. He is the clerk {
the Board of Health in Hoboken an
% keeps the record of the births, death
IT and marriages.
ID He said that last Friday Samu,
Vt Stanton came to him and inquire
'r about the death Of one Anna Webel
or who had, he alleged, been a witness /
N a marriage he had performed in 1881
IS Stanton approached me at the Oil
10 Hall, said the witness, "and sal
that he was in peck of trouble an
s. that | could help him out. He sal
IS that he had conducted a wedding Ger,
" mony of a man named Bennett and
woman named Biggar in 1898, and
le believed he had forgotten to send ii
or record to the Office which | now hol,
ey 'tHe said that Anna Weber was IL
Il. witness to the wedding, and he wantt
IA me to go into court and swear th
n Anna Weber was dead. ! told him thi
| could not do anything like that Vi
ne less the woman was really dead. The
lie no asked mo for an old blank weddii
IT, record with the date of lS-.' | ga
him one, but told him to be We
ad cautious of what he was doing. /
g. made out the certificate and then ask
OF me to turn back the books to 1898 al
irs enter it there.
. / took the certificate, but requir
we him to give me a statement, which
OF as follows:
~ ~ hereby affirm that l delivered to
u, clerk of the Board of Health certificate
ng the marriage Of Henry Nj, Bennett d
nd Laura Biggar and personally saw 1t enter
The on the record for January, 1898.
ext Samuel Stanton
to Stanton now claims that he "
the trapped into signing this statene
ok, and tampering with the records
yer Lawyer Young of the firm of Young
for Arrowsmith, lawyers in Hohoken. "