Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-09-14
FREEDOM 0F LOVE.
Utica Preacher Declares Belief lu
 Prenatal Marriage.
LIVES IN HOME OF ATTENTIVE
Rev. MT. Sims Defies Public Opinion to Share the Residence of His Souls Bride," Widow-Calls His Action . Fight For Principle.

Share the Residence of His "SouPs Bride," a Widow-calls His Action .
 Fight For Principle.
 Utica, N. r., Sept. IA. A serious breach among the clergymen of this city which has startled society was disclosed when the Rev. William F. M. Sims, formerly of New York city, and Mrs. Ellen Burlingame Dudley Dorn publicly declared their belief in free dom of love, heaven made affinities and prenatal marriages.
 Dr. Sims attitude is as implacabla as that of Earle. Yelled threats of os- tracism uttered even from the pulpits have failed to move him, and earnest letters from the Rev. c. E. Miller and others of equal prominence in the Uti- ca clergy have been powerless to in- influence the minister against his souls bride," whose home he has made his own for the last three months.
 Woman Is Widow.
 The state of affairs caused by the actions of this strange couple and which has been carefully guarded from general publicity can be better real ized when it is known that Mrs. Dorn is a high officer of the Kings Daugh- ters and has held almost every office at the disposal of the Good Templars. She is a direct descendant of the old Puritan family of Burlingame-that be- ing her maiden name-a family famous for more than a century in Rhode Is. land.
 Mrs. Dorn's husband is dead, she says, as is her son, but she has two married daughters living in Rome, N. Y. They are Mrs. Pearl Reynolds and Mrs. Ida Sturtevant. Mrs. Dorn was married in Point Rock, N. Y., where she lived for a number of years and where is located her summer home, The Willows.
 A Fight For Principle.
 Mrs. Dorn's home and her present residence, which is shared by the Rev. MT. Sims, is located at 692 Genesee street, the most fashionable thorough fare in Utica.
 It was at that address reporter found the clergyman and Mrs. Dorn.
 ''The fact that I am a minister has encouraged me-" Mir. Sims explained, ito make a fight for new. laws and new customs which, in my belief, will solve problems rather than face which the average man lives immorally. You see, if I were an ordinary business man little heed would be given to what I say or do. The laws which govern marriage and the so called mor- als of home life as they are today must be entirely changed before there can be any assurance of happiness in the union of the man and the woman of this age"
 MT. Sims stood with his hands rest ing upon the back of. Mrs. Dorn's chair as he made this statement. There was no affectation in his manner, and his voice had the cadence of minis ter talking from the pulpit to his con- gregation.
 Tt was on July 1 that the turning point came in our lives" continued Mir Sims, referring to the date on which he said they had formed reso- lution to take up the fight for individ- ual liberty and freedom of thought.
 His Wife In an Asylum.
 Three days later I came to this house to live It has been the happiest three months of my life. Some of the neighbors who once welcomed me to their homes do not speak when they meet me on the street, and Mrs. Dorn is treated in the same cruel way, but we are right, and we know it. At any rate there is no backing down now. We have taken a stand and will de- fend it."
 Rev. Mir. Sims comes from a we'll known New York family and received his education fin this city. He has brothers high in the financial world both here and in Newark. He has a wife living and two children. The for mer. however. has been confined in an asx-lun for the insane for nearly fan