The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-07-21
Woodbridge Was Unconcerncd.

the notc to Woodbridge. anu. VINO was
x the first one to inform Woodbridge OF the
obstruction Of the Forbes property, took
the stand. lie told Ills story In a
n straightfor-ward way. aud said that Mr.:
Dick Forbes sent him over to Mr.. Wool
* bridges with MESA &c, and that he told
& Mr. Nooldridee that every house OH tho
= plantation OF Mr.. John s. forbes. G Xcept
i two small houses. had boon burned TO tho
ground. Counsel asked hDn What Mr..
Woodbridge said when he told him about
d the burning, and asked him whether MI.
Woodbridge EXPRESSED any surprise or;
regret. He said Mr.. Woodbridge ex-i
pressed no surprise whatever wheniglieE
Il told him OF the burning, and said that 10
ES(Wooldridge) was going to Appomattoxi
depot to meet his daughter, and would
come operSto Mr.. Torbes's when slle got;
back home. #
Aunt Nancy Dramatic.
.as Nancy Morgan, the old colorcd woman
who lived With tho Forbes family and
who was sleeping in tho dwelling on
was placed OH the stand, and she gave
most dramatic and interesting testimony.
" Old Aunt Nancy Is n genuine African;
b and is d born actor. though she does
not knowit. She gave lin a. remarkable
4 way tho story OF the burning. She told
E how they were all asleep in the house,
were awakened by the burning building
g and told all fsthcir actions and CONVEX
II sationsN throughout this terrible z night.
X She has a perfect negro dialect; 1t might
lie called Il negro classic dialect. Some
4 Of her expressions were, indeed remark
4: able for their s,iggcstivencss. She told Of.
how the family dog barked early in the
4 night of4stle fire, and how this dos
was answered by H. flee III IN Ivy CLIFF.
n a quarter OF Il mile from the Forbes
house She said she believed this flee
dog belonged to tho people who did the
burning. With brief detail. she told
n creryFincident connect ted with the night
or the lire. Il SHE said that Charlie Forbes
n left home about O'Clock on the day OF
The fire, and that Miss jamie came IN
a from her. school bout the time she was
getting supper. This was when I he dog
was heard to bark in tho Ivy cliff. This
barking Of tho dog In the cliff, thescoun-
5E sci for tho Commonwealth said. meant
that the Ivy cliff was =, meeting place
81 the {conspirators. She said that Mr..
Woodbridge had two flee dogs, one d
puppy, tho other 4 grown dog. She did
not know. however. whosc. dog was
barking In the ivy cliff: she left that
q for the jury5Sto find out. ,.s1
q Is needless to say that Aunt Mary
81 Morgan's testimony nude a profound lm-
81 precision, upon tho court and special ors,
6 tl,ough#it did not present any extraor-
binary evidence against Woodbridge. Mrs.
u Pleas Turner OF Appomattox county, said
NJ Mr.. woodbridge stopped 7 her house on
~ his way to AppomattoSs Courthouse 70
meet Ills daughter. Het Mrs. Turner,
while warming a t her fire, about the burn-
ing fof MI Forbcs's property She said,
.'Mr. Woodbridge. how did 1t all happen,
anyway? 81 I,
a2"He said Ne did mot know unless It
was tho cqibrcu boy, who always slept ~
Mr. Forbes's cook room. who did%5the
CA Burning Tho Commonwealth will at
tempt to show that this testimony IS d.
rectly against Woodbridge, because he
must have known that no colored boy
stayed in Mr.. Foi'bes's house. "a
Alex Forbes, a supervisor Of this coln-
s = ty.8 testified that OH the 3lst OF last De-
crmber, o. C. Woodbridge told him that
Charlie Forbes was a very dangerous
man In the community and that there
would DO "a big bust up over there SOON
Mixed the Medicine Bottles.
Miss Nora O'Bricn. who Is n niece Of
John S. Forbes, next testified a. a Com
nonwealihs witness. She said she help
ed administer medicine to Mr.. Forbes
during his last illness, after the burning;
that one day Woodbridge came In 10 see
Mr.. Forbes and mixed the medicine bot
4 ties which had been carefully arranged
and then advised her not to administer
any medicine to the sick man because the
bottles had been mixed. This was during
Miss jamie Forbes's absence from the
room She stated that she had no ami
mostly toward Woodbridge.
DR.. Nowin was placed on tho stand
to testify us to the kind of1mediclne which
he had left for Mr.. Forbes. He left one
,tx,},,r aud tInf
containing mixture Of strychnlne;3 either
Of these used out OF place might have
caused the case to have resulted fatally
Mr.. Flood asked Or. Nowlin whether 81
not he had contributed 10 the funds
which had been raised to pay counsel e
prosecute Woodbridge. DR.. NoWlLn re-
piled that hc did not know that ne had
Story of j, H. Forbes.
j, II. Forbes testified substantially ~
follows: III lived less than mile from
John s, ForDes. TO whom DIS dlsiahtl,
related. and one and a half miles n or
Woodbridge. ] am amerchant ana our
relations are perfectly pleasant Wool
II bridge WAS my customcrI heard ubou
1li9 fire next morning and went over. 1
A& u. Forbes aud two or three OF Wool
.i8 dridBcs children. Floyd, Jones I'D. Jones
rs John s. Forbes, siiss JAMIE and Aun
Nancy, Wcrc there. ] saw tracks abou
the place, bui paid no especial attention
to them. n, NJ, Forbes took ,neasurcs
Z, ments OF them. Itook none"
The plot WAS here shown Witness, an,
he pointed out positions and direction
of the tracks. One SpS a large track
Il the other ~ small one: The track bcoy
The smokthousc seoa,ed TO lead from III
dwelling. They were perfectly plain.
Woodbridge and I are friends to.bs,
. 50 far as am concerned" wine
~ continued.
The Fire Planned.
II heard Woodbridge Hiking a grca
b deal about tho fire lie said me fir
II was planned December; s.Jth laf, ~
said this on TIE night or the day ofte
the burial of5Jolin $. Forbes. said he VIA
afraid this fire was going to set iiini nj
tr6shle- I nelityc.'I aViil make q clea